A Black and White Story: Book Three
by Brown-Eyed-Marauderette
Summary: Sequel to ABAWS:B2. Time has come and they are now in their fourth year. Romance and mischief are budding around our beloved characters but at the same time, darkness is looming all around them. So far, Mr. Potter has faced inferi and Elyse fought Death Eaters last Christmas. Whose turn is it next to face the forces of Voldemort? But better yet, who will pay the ultimate price
1. A Normal Summer Day: Part One

_Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of the third book in a Black and White Story! I don't really have much to say at this point except that I don't own Harry Potter and I hope that you all enjoy!_

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Sirius**

It was a completely and utterly normal summer day for Sirius. He woke up that morning to screaming, ate some breakfast made by a house elf that wanted him dead, got wacked over the head by his mother for having too much cheek when he asked her if she knew the meaning of motherly love, and got ordered to find his twin.

He knocked on her door and while he waited, he gingerly touched his cheek. He winced the second his finger tips touched his cheek; there was no doubt in his mind that it was going to bruise.

Ursula opened the door a little bit and immediately turned back into her room. Sirius pushed the door open a little farther and walked in. He observed the room that he rarely went in. As their own personal agreement, Ursula's room was her only space in the world and she didn't like it when either brother went in. They may be twins, but Sirius respected her space.

The room looked much different from what he remembered. There were scores of photos on the wall along with posters of a mix of muggle and wizard bands, the Gryffindor banners and jerseys that James gave her three years ago, and some hand drawn pictures that Sirius could tell were from Elyse. The floor was a mess and there were clothes and other objects strewn around the floor.

"Did a bomb go off in here?" Sirius asked as he shoved some of her school books off her bed so he could sit.

She spun around and glared at him before she went back to what she was doing, "No. I can't stand another day here so I was thinking that we pack for a day or two and go visit Ben or James."

Sirius raised an eyebrow suggestively, "You want to go see your lover boy, don't you?"

A well aimed book hit him in the gut. He grunted in pain and shouted out indignantly. Ursula just rolled her eyes but explained her reasoning, "James and Ben are the only two hooked up to the floo network. I would go visit Elyse but her family are muggles. So I was thinking of visiting Ben this time. You could go visit James if you want."

Sirius was about to answer when a shrill shout came from the drawing room. They looked at each other and silently agreed to continue the conversation later. The second they entered the room, three pairs of cold, emotionless eyes turned to stare at them.

Walburga cleared her throat, "Your cousin Narcissa's wedding to Lucius Malfoy is today. You have twenty minutes to get ready to go. I swear, if I find out that you two little abominations do anything to disgrace this family's name even more than you already have, there **will** be severe punishments."

He didn't realize that his hands had turned into fists and that he was actually cutting into the palms of his hands. He unclenched his hands and let out a slow breath as he tried to calm himself. He needed to think about Ursula; if he did something, they both would get punished. If it was up to him, then Ursula's plan of visiting James's wouldn't just be a one day visit but a permanent one.

Realizing that his mother was waiting for an answer, he nodded once and grabbed Ursula's arm to pull her back up the stairs because she could only seem to glare at her mother with an amount of hatred that was stronger than Lily's glare at James.

"Good," their mother nodded once. "Your father has your robes that I picked out. Don't try to mess this up."

Sirius snatched the Slytherin green robes from his father's outstretched hand. Ursula walked over to their dad and pulled her silver and green dress viciously out of his hands. "Thank you, Orion."

There was a beat of silence and Sirius didn't know whether to cheer or hit his head against the wall.

"What. Did. You. Say?" Their mother hissed.

Ursula shrugged, "You heard me, mother. I said, "Thank you, Orion." When I took my dress."

"You will address him by his proper title you insolent disgrace!"

Ursula laughed humorlessly, "Until he is proven to be my father, I refuse to call him by that name, you whore."

Everyone's jaw in the room dropped. Sirius looked at his twin sister, wondering if she had lost her mind. Then faster than a blink of the eye, Walburga whipped out her wand and set Ursula flying backwards.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Ursula didn't seem perturbed by her mother screaming at her. "You act like this is a surprise but I'm sure that you've questioned who our fathers are at some point. Orion's not the only one you've been shagging lately so what's to make me think that this hasn't been happening for a while?"

For the first time all summer, Sirius and Regulus shared a look that wasn't filled with mutual hate. They wore identical expressions of utter confusion. What was she talking about?

Their mother turned red and seemed to be sputtering. Sirius had to hand it to Ursula, she had managed to render their mother speechless. But Sirius had to wonder, was Ursula really implying what he thought she was? Before he could say anything Ursula began talking again.

"That's right, Mother, though I use that term loosely. I know about your indiscretions. Shagging random men; you take tounjours pur seriously don't you?" She taunted.

Walburga was seething with anger. Sirius was almost positive that there was steam coming out of her ears. Sparks of green and silver shot out of her wand as she tried to keep herself composed looking at her daughter.

"You have brought more disgrace upon this family than anyone else in this room has, piece of scum! You beseech the tradition of your forefathers in my father's home! What gives you the right, some blood traitor, to even insinuate that I have disgraced the family?!"

Ursula laughed hysterically, "Some blood traitor?! I'm your bloody _daughter_!" She screeched. "And I want to know if Sirius and I are bastard children! Is that so bloody hard to understand? I've seen random men leaving this house all summer! Now I'm going to call him Orion until you can prove that I'm his child!" With that Ursula stood up and fled the room and started sprinting up the stairs.

Sirius immediately ran after his sister. He grabbed her elbow on the second floor stair case and stopped her. "What was that down there?" He hissed at her.

She didn't say anything but she looked up and down the stairs before she grabbed his hand and pulled him all the way to her room. She locked the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed.

He didn't move from this position in the room. "What was that about?" He asked again a bit more forcefully.

Ursula sighed. "I woke up in the middle of the night last summer right before we went to James's. I heard some noises and I thought Mother and Orion were…you know. I went downstairs to get some water because I didn't trust Kreacher not to poison me and I saw Orion sitting in the drawing room. The next morning I woke up early and I saw, I saw Avery leaving the house."

"AVERY!" Sirius shouted in shock.

Ursula nodded solemnly, "Than it started right up again this year with other wizards I don't recognize. And I started thinking, everyone always says that we look like Orion but our parents are cousins! They look like each other! So there's a chance that—"

"We just look like our mom and our father isn't our father." Sirius finished for her. The idea seemed crazy, something that he couldn't even fathom. But when he thought of the cold heartedness of her and suddenly, it didn't seem so outlandish. "Why haven't you told me this before? Don't I have a right to know that the man that I call Father might not even be my dad?"

Ursula looked anywhere but towards him, "I didn't want you or Regulus to get hurt. I was going to get Lily to brew me a paternity potion but I never got around to asking her in school and I didn't want to say anything before I knew for sure. I've been referring to him in my mind as Orion since the beginning of third year and it just slipped out today."

Sirius sat down on her desk chair and rubbed his face with his hands, trying to absorb this new information. Walburga Black has been cheating on his father. Scratch that, she has been cheating on Orion Black. The man he thought was his father for almost fifteen years might not be. He had to deal with being attached to his branch on the blasted family tree tapestry.

His head snapped up and he looked at his sister with wide eyes, "The tapestry." He said softly.

Ursula cocked an eyebrow and looked at him oddly, "What?"

He jumped up from his seat and started pacing, "The family tapestry; its magic. A person is added by their birth when they are born to a member of the Black family. It also connects the father when it is someone outside the family. Remember, the first Sirius's sister was blasted off the tree because when she had her kid, the name Bob Hitchens appeared as the kid's father, not her husband's?"

"It doesn't rely on the family to add?" Ursula asked incredulously.

Sirius shook his head, "As much as I hate that thing, that thing can never lie."

"Never lie," Ursula repeated softly. Her eyes gave away to a glazed look as she stared off out the window. Sirius raised an eyebrow but didn't question his twin. They sat in silence for a good five minutes, neither feeling the need to fill the space with words.

There was a sharp rap to the door. "Mother wants me to tell you that both of you are still expected to get dressed for the wedding and be downstairs in twenty minutes. She also mentioned that if you two dolts try anything, then there will be hell to pay." Regulus said through the door.

Sirius groaned and ran his hand through his hair, a tick that he had picked up from spending so much time with James. The curls however just fell right back into place. He stood up and walked out of the room, letting Ursula change.

The wedding was the traditional crap that epitomized everything Sirius hated. His Slytherin cousins and older relatives threatened him. His Grandfather Pollox had a few choice words for dishonoring the family. Narcissa and Lucius were socializing with everyone like the cold hearted people they were; fake smiles and empty words. Their robes were even in the traditional Black/Malfoy style. Her gown was overly dramatic and overworked and even ugly in color, a dusty grey with ugly black lace on the bodice. Lucius's robes were puke green embroidered with so much silver thread that Sirius was almost certain that they stole the repulsive tablecloth from their dining table and made it into a set of robes. It didn't help that his hair was longer than his wife's.

Three hours after the never ending wedding, Sirius was about to die of boredom. The dungbombs he planned near the wedding party table weren't set to go off for another hour and the coloring potion Ursula slipped in the 'adult punch' wouldn't take effect until everyone left the building. The two of them were sitting at a round table, all alone with their mother and father showed off Regulus like a prized pet.

"Have you heard from James?" Ursula asked.

Sirius nodded subtly, "He mentioned that the potion should be done soon. He said that maybe sometime next week."

Ursula absentmindedly nodded, "Sneak out?"

"Sneak out." He confirmed.

"Why, Ursula? Sirius? My how you've grown!" At that moment they were accosted by a woman that same age as their mother. Her slightly graying hair was pulled back into an elegant bun and her horn rimmed glasses were perched on the end of her thin, long nose. Sirius was distinctly reminded of a bird.

Ursula raised an eyebrow, "You are…?"

The relative (the family resemblance was obvious) raised an eyebrow at the twins, "Do you not remember me? I am your father's sister, Lucretia Prewett. I am offended that you don't remember me. My husband and I have only been on our trip around the world for five years." She admonished the twins.

Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he remembered his annoying aunt. Her high shrill voice always made him cringe and five years had made no difference. She wasn't one of the relatives he liked at all but he remembered that her husband Ignatius wasn't that bad.

"So how do you two like Slytherin so far? I remember when I was sorted with your mother; we were quite close, as I'm sure you're aware of. Oh, the stories I could tell about your mother and father— I was the one that set them up together, you know? Ah, that was in Slytherin's silver days, but I guess that now you two have created your own marvelous time, haven't you?"

Ursula and Sirius shared a wide eyed. Sirius turned back towards her, "We're not in Slytherin." He told her.

Aunt Lucretia's eyebrows shot up, almost disappearing underneath her hairline. "Ravenclaws then. You know, I always told your parents that you were perfect Ravenclaws when you were just little kids; too smart for your own good, I would say. You two were always intelligent but I always noticed a lack of drive and determination from the both you. You never were able to control your emotions or hide your thoughts around other people. But don't worry! Ravenclaw is still an acceptable house, even though I'm sure it broke your father's heart. He loved his years in Slytherin and he must have devastated him to know you weren't sorted into his former house."

"We aren't in Ravenclaw either," Ursula said harshly.

For the first time since she sat down at the table, Aunt Lucretia was silent. After she gathered her wits, she sputtered, "Then what, pray tell, House are you two in?! You do attend Hogwarts, correct?"

Sirius nodded, "We do attend Hogwarts."

"We're in Gryffindor." Ursula finished.

"GRYFFINDOR!?" Their aunt screeched. "You got sorted into that mudblood loving house?! You have disgraced the family name, blood traitors! Oh! My poor brother, my poor cousin! I must go offer them my condolences for their unfortunate mistakes of children!" She cried dramatically and scurried off to find her brother and his wife.

Ursula looked and Sirius and rolled her eyes. "That went over well. Think that Mother will be happy with us when we get home?"

"She'll be overflowing with happiness," Sirius drawled sarcastically.

"Don't you find it disturbing that she calls her sister-in-law her cousin?" Ursula asked in mock considering manner.

Sirius snorted, "Well, it's true."

"That's the disturbing part."

There was a deep chuckle from behind them, "Welcome to the Black Family. Where it's normal to marry your cousin and sleep with your uncle."

The twins turned and small smiles formed on their faces. "'Ello, Uncle Ignatius. How was the trip?"

He shrugged while sitting down at the table, "Not that bad. I'm more interested in the screaming I just heard. Gryffindor, seriously? How much has Alphard messed you two up?"

Sirius immediately jumped to the defense of his favorite uncle, "Uncle Alphard hasn't messed us up at all! We were sorted long before we had any contact with him!"

Ignatius held his hands up, "I didn't mean that the wrong way. I have to admit, I thought the Gryffindors would only be on my side of my family, never on my wife's. I thought only Molly, Gideon, Fabian, and I guess Molly's and Gideon's kids too, would be sorted into that house."

"Gideon's kids?" Ursula asked, catching on his admission. From the information Ben told them, Annabelle had been dating Gideon since around their third year and Annabelle hadn't had any children since they graduated; Ben would have told them. Had Gideon cheated on Annabelle and had children with another woman,

Their uncle nodded, "It's not born yet; they just found out. Pity it's going to be a bastard child."

"Who's the mother?" Sirius asked.

"The Minister's oldest kid. I haven't met her and she's a blood traitor, she's at least of pureblood."

"Annabelle's pregnant?" Ursula said.

Ignatius nodded and raised his eyebrows, "You know her?"

The twins nodded, "We're friends with her brother."

"Consorting with blood traitors, true Blacks you are." Ignatius said sarcastically.

Their uncle was saved from the wrath of the twins defending their friend when a loud explosion shook the dining hall. A cloud of green smoke surrounded the bride and groom sitting at the head table. Immediately, everyone was in an uproar. Lucius grabbed his bride by the arm and dragged her away from the table. In the rush of people running away from the horrid smelling cloud, Ursula and Sirius were practically doubled over in laughter.

Suddenly, they were both grabbed roughly around their necks. "YOU INSOLENT CHILDREN!" Their mother's voice shrieked over the panicked crowd. "YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

"Why mother, why would you think that we were involved in this? We're just a pair of angels," Ursula taunted in a fake innocent voice.

They felt the familiar abrupt pull from their navel and the second they stopped spinning, they were both forcefully thrown into their rooms. Sirius just laughed as he heard his mother screaming explicatives at him and his sister.

"Oi! Wally. Go check a mirror!" Sirius heard Ursula shout from the other side of the wall.

There was a beat of silence before a hair splitting scream practically deafened Sirius. But he didn't notice. He was doubled over, tears streaming out of his eyes he laughed. He couldn't breathe as he tried to imagine her face when she realized that her skin was now alternating between red and gold. Their mother started screaming death threats and wishes of disownment that just tripled his laughter. This was just too good.

His notebook that he and Ursula could communicate through suddenly glowed and he opened to the newest page and saw, _I put a camera in the mirror, courtesy of Elyse, that captured her face. _

He was now laughing so far that no noise was coming out of his mouth. His sides felt like they were on fire and he was pretty sure he was about to wet himself but it was just too perfect. Sweet Merlin, he knew why she was his favorite person. Always one step ahead of him, not that he really cared. But knowing that he will forever have his mother's perfectly infuriated face immortalized in a photograph was totally worth the pain he had to endure at the wedding.

Yup, all in all it was just a perfectly ordinary day in Number 12 Grimmauld for the Black Family.

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Elyse**

It was a perfectly normal summer day in Kiltimagh. There was a gentle breeze rolling through the hills that made Elyse want to grab and broom and disappear into the landscape. But her mother needed her help feeding her younger brothers. She threw on some neon blue shorts and a loose, bright canary yellow tank top before sliding down the banister to get to the first floor.

"Mornin' Elyse. Kin yeh git your brothers' ready fer breakfast? They's 'n teh backyard." Her mother asked without even turning around from the stove. There was suddenly the sound child screams wafted through the window and Elyse's blood ran cold. She grabbed her wand that she had put in her bun and ran outside. When she saw the sight in front of her, however, she quickly hid her wand back in her hair.

Sean and Jack were currently tag teaming Pat Finnigan as they pinned him to the ground and tickled him.

"Elyse! 'elp me!" He shouted through his laughter and her siblings'. Elyse pretended to think about it before she joined the fray and grabbed Jack around the waist and began tickling him mercilessly. Now just dealing with the smaller of the two, Pat soon had Sean in a similar state. Soon, the two brothers escaped their captors grip and ran back into the house, shouting "Retreat!"

Elyse was still sitting on the ground, completely winded after the vicious tickle fight. She fell backwards with her eyes closed and let the early morning summer sun warm her. Chuckling from above her made her open one eye. Standing above her was Pat, smiling down at her.

"Top o' teh mornin teh yeh," he greeted as he offered his hand to her.

She laughed and grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. "Woot are yeh doin 'ere so early?" She asked as they walked towards the house.

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I got yeh's letta and I was wonderin if yeh wanted teh go teh town wit me?"

"SHE WOULD LOVE TEH!" Her mother shouted from the kitchen.

Elyse's face flushed red. She couldn't look Patrick in the face but she knew that he was probably smiling to himself; he never seemed to not smile. "MUM!" She shouted back indignantly.

"WOOT?! JUST BEH BACK BEFORE DARK!"

Gathering up her Gryffindor courage, Elyse met Pat's eyes. His eyes were dancing jovially and he offered her his arm, "Me lady,"

Deciding that she actually really wanted to spend time with him, she linked her arm through his and let him guide her down the path towards town. They walked through town window shopping for the next four hours. When their feet felt like they were about to fall off, they walked to the local ice cream shop. Pat refused to let her pay and bought her a pumpkin flavored cone. He had given her an odd look when she requested that, but she didn't answer because she wasn't sure how to explain pumpkin juice. While she never expected the same pumpkin flavor ice cream she got at Florean and Blotts, she figured that she would settle for second best.

"So tell meh aboot tis Ursula lass. She seems teh always show up in yeh's stories," Patrick asked.

Elyse swallowed her ice cream wrong in shock at the unexpected question. She hadn't mentioned any of her friends from Hogwarts the entire day. Patrick seemed to realize that he had crossed some invisible line and he started backtracking. "If yeh don't want teh talk aboot them, that's fine. I was just wonderin' aboot teh people yeh go ta school wit."

"It's fine, I was just surprised yeh remembered 'er name."

Patrick shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, "Yeah, yeh see, when yeh mentioned your friends, I wanted to remember everthin aboot them that yeh mentioned because, well, because I want yeh friends ta like me when I finally meet 'em."

"Why?" Elyse asked curiously. She couldn't even imagine a situation where Ursula or Peter or any of the other boys would meet him.

Pat didn't answer her but looked out of the two portrait windows. He suddenly stood up and grabbed their empty tray, "Do yeh want teh go tat eh school yard?"

She nodded and followed him out the shop, a few paces behind him. There was an air of nervousness around Patrick that made her worried. Apparently she wasn't going fast enough because he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She was too shocked by his forwardness to pull away. He lead her around her childhood school towards the tree that watched over them when they were younger.

Suddenly, he stopped and spun around so he was facing her. "Do yeh remember when we were seven and yeh married Tim under that tree? I was teh only kid in our class that didn't show up because I couldn't 'andle it. Teh girl I fancied was marryin another bloke, but I was neva mad at yeh; yeh were too perfect. But I neva said anything because I knew yeh didn't like me. Then yeh went away fer school and I regretted neva tellin' yeh. And I knew I 'ad no chance but I—"

He was cut off when Elyse pressed her lips gently to his. It lasted about a second but in that short period of time Elyse couldn't help but notice how soft his lips were. She leaned back and smiled when she saw his gobsmacked expression. She laughed and held both of his hands, "I tink yeh 'ave a chance." She said softly.

Though still in shock, Pat seemed to be able to comprehend her words. His mouth slowly formed into a brilliant smile that took Elyse's breath away. The complete and utter joy that seemed to just radiate from his entire being, "Are yeh serious right now? Because if 'is is just some dream, please let me know because-"

Elyse put her finger on his lips to stop him talking. She ignored the shiver that went down her spin when she felt his lips move against her finger. "Just shut oop and kiss me."

To say the least, Patrick was more than happy to comply.

Elyse smiled a little bit against his lips when she felt his hands wrap around her waist. She had never imagined that she would be standing there in that spot doing what she was doing, but now as his lips moved against hers, she couldn't imagine a more perfect moment, a more perfect person, or a more perfect setting for her first kiss.

Patrick pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, "Elyse, would yeh be me girlfriend?"

She nodded with a wide smile on her face and chastely kissed him on the lips before grabbing his hand and pulling him back towards the center of town. "Come on, I want teh show off me new boyfriend," she said with a wink. Patrick laughed in complete euphoria at finally getting the girl of his dreams and followed her diligently, too happy to contest being 'shown off' around town.

The rest of the day was one of the happiest days of Elyse's life. It was ranked up there with her first day at Hogwarts. It may have started out a completely and utterly normal summer day but it ended anything but.

* * *

_There you go! I had originally wanted to get all seven of their summers in one chapter but I realized that would take way to long and that I need more time to plan out some of the later ones. I promise that the other five will have their 'normal' day in the next couple chapters. _

_I just wanted to send a quick thank you to all the people that have read my other stories. At last count, the first book of the series has just under ten thousand hits and I was flabbergasted when I saw that number. All of you are fabulous and I hope that this book lives up to all of your expectations._

_Please review, I appreciate every single word that has been written in a review, but I would like to make a minor request, please leave reviews in proper English. As much as I love you all, if I can't read it, then there might be a bit of a problem. Anywho, REVIEW!_


	2. A Normal Summer Day: Part Two

_I first want to thank everyone that has read/reviewed/favorited/alerted this story. It means a lot to me to know that a lot of you are reading this story. As you can probably tell, this chapter is kind of like a continuation of the last one. There will be one more of these that will be up a little quicker than this one, I think. Then again, you never know with how much homework is assigned.  
_

_There are a few things that I would like to clarify/explain. There is basically no information about Peter's family so I made up this scenario. Tell me what you think of it. If you have any more question about it (I have spoken to a few people through private message about this already) I would be more than happy to talk about it with you.  
_

_I only want to have one author's note so I'm just going to ask that you review at the end of this chapter. Favorite part, favorite line, something you thought was really cool, or something that you think I should improve on, I don't care. Anything is welcome.  
_

_Without further delay, please enjoy this next chapter of A Black and White Story: Book Three_

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Peter**

There were days where it was easier. Days when he would forget all about it until the avalanche of guilt would bury him as he thought about it as he lay down for bed. With his friends often distracting him and time also passing, he found that it was getting easier and easier to deal with. That and he had Elyse he could talk to about it. She was the only one that could understand what he was feeling because she went through the same thing on a daily basis.

He could handle it; he was a Gryffindor, just like him. He was brave and he was courageous.

But Peter couldn't lie to himself. He wasn't brave or courageous or anything else that Gryffindor stood for. The only reason he was in that house was because he begged – no, _pleaded_ – with the Sorting Hat to put him in the same house. That was the only way he could feel closer to him, to make the weight in his chest go away for just a little while.

Then days like today happen. The morning of June 16th, Peter woke up, saw the calendar, and instantly knew it was going to be a hard day. This day was always the worst day of the year for one simple fact.

His father was dead.

Sure, he had his stepfather, Roger, who treated him like he was his own son. His mother married him when Peter was just five years old. Roger was a good and kind man, a muggle that his half blood mother had fallen for but he never completely filled the hole in Peter's heart.

His father was a Pureblood, Gryffindor wizard and he was the original James according to his mother. He was a little more humble but he was always so full of life. Cruel irony would make it that he didn't die a wizard's death by some weird magical disease or by some spell gone bad or even by losing a duel. No, his father was hit by a car walking across the street. And just like that, at three months, Peter was suddenly without a father.

Even though Peter didn't have a single memory of his father and he had to rely entirely on stories his father's friends and his mother told him, he loved his father with all of his heart. He had never told any of his friends about this except Elyse. She was truly the only one that could understand since she went through a similar thing; her father dying at a young age and her mother remarrying.

A soft knock on the door broke Peter out of his sad thoughts. "Peter, can I come in?" His mother's voice asked through the door.

Peter didn't make any movement to get off the bed. He just lied on his back and stared at the plain white ceiling, "Come in," he said monotonously.

The door squeaked a little as it swung open to reveal his mother. She looked a little worse for wear but she was instantly at his side. She pulled his head to her shoulder and stroked his hair like he was a toddler again. Peter didn't pull away from the embrace, as a matter of fact; he leaned into his mother's hold.

"You know, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank Merlin that he sent me your father because he gave me the most perfect son." She leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

"Tell me something about him," Peter asked in a weak voice, one that he would never dare use around his friends. His lips trembled at the emotional onslaught that he was sure he was about to go through.

His mother hummed absent mindlessly while she thought of a story to tell her son.

"Alright son, did I ever tell you the story of the day I told him I was expecting?" When Peter shook his head, she continued, "We had been married for just over a year at this point. We had spoken of children but we weren't really trying because your father was an Auror. While it was no means like it is now, your father had accumulated enough enemies in his time. But then the signs began and within a few days I knew I was pregnant.

"I made your father's favorite meal and got into my prettiest dress and waited for him to get back from work. That had to be the longest hour of my life. Then the floo lit up and suddenly, he was standing in front of me. He took one look at me and one look at the room and you know what he said to me? He swept me into his arms and he said, "He's going to be perfect." I never questioned how he knew but it didn't matter. Because your father was right, you were and still are perfect and I know that Robert was still alive, he would be so proud of you Peter."

Tears were spilling over his eyes and onto his cheeks, "How do you know that?"

She was silent a moment but then said, "When you first went on the train to go to Hogwarts, I looked up to the sky and I asked Robert to look after you. Two days later I got your letter describing your new friends I knew that he brought them to you. Benjamin just happening to be right next to you when some Slytherins hexed you? You two just happening to pick the compartment with James, Remus, Sirius, Ursula, and Elyse? The chances of that happening… I don't even remember the names of the people I took my first train ride with. He brought you some special people and I think he picked them because they bring out him in you."

His mother tightened her grip around him, "Enough of this sadness! Your father always had a smile on his face – he wouldn't want us to act like this. Now, Roger has gone to visit his father for the morning so if you want, I can make you your favorite breakfast," she offered.

Peter perked up and opened his mouth to accept the enticing offer but an errant thought stopped him dead. He tried to wrap his mind around his idea and then he shakily shook his head, "No, there's something that I want to do first."

Fifteen minutes later, Peter found himself standing at the gate of the small local cemetery. His hand trembled as he held onto the iron work. He had not been inside his father's last resting place since he was about six. He had talked himself up but the second he came to the barrier and he could see his father's tombstone rising above the ground, he couldn't go forward.

He just stood there. It felt like all the courage had drained from his body. For a moment, he seriously considered turning around and heading back home but then a voice that sounded a lot like James said in his head, "_That's it? You're just going to walk away from the grave of the man who gave you life? Wormtail, I'm ashamed of you."_

But it was just too hard. He was a failure considered to his father and his inability to go farther just doubled the feeling of dejectedness that settled in his mind. A voice spoke in his head, but it was much different than the first one. Ursula. _"He is your father. I believe in you; you can do this Wormy." _ She encouraged.

With 'Ursula's' encouragement rushing through his head, he pushed back the gate and strode purposely forward to the grave. When he got within five feet, he froze. A shiver went down his spin as he looked at the cold stone.

_Robert Pettigrew_

_12 October 1936 – 5 May 1960_

_Death is but a minor inconvenience in this thing we call life._

A lump in the back of Peter's thought threatened to escape. Those words. Simple words that carried so much more meaning. Peter let out a choked sob. His father loved life and viewed death as only a 'minor inconvenience' while Peter was too scared to go to his grave. He was pathetic compared to his father. A morbid thought came to Peter while he stood in front of the tombstone. Six feet under his feet were the bones and probable dust of his father. He wasn't even recognizable anymore. Just a pile of bones.

"H-h-hello dad." He said softly. The words sounded like he was using the sonrorous charm in the silent cemetery. "I k-k-know that I, I, um, haven't talked to you before, but I um, um, I just w-w-wanted to k-know if you are, i-i-if you are proud of me?"

Peter looked at the cold headstone while he stood in the dry, windless June day. When he didn't get any sign that he hoped for his shoulders slumped forward and he started to walk out of the cemetery. Then, out of nowhere, a cool breeze rushed past him, causing goosebumps to cover his arms. Looking up from the ground, his heart jumped to his throat when he was the branches of the tree right next to him.

They weren't moving.

The breeze grew a little bit stronger and he stumbled back towards his father's grave. Timidly, as if unsure if this could really be happening, he walked towards the headstone.

"Dad?" He asked as he placed his hand on the marker.

Instantly the wind stopped. Peter smiled and sat down in front of it and looked up at his father's name. "I don't really know what to say. I got into Gryffindor, just like you dad. The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Hufflepuff or Slytherin but I wanted Gryffindor and it eventually agreed with me. I just want you to be proud of me. Oh, there's this girl, Ursula Black, and I think that I might be in love with her...

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Ursula**

It was a particularly boring day in Grimmauld Place. After Sirius had a screaming match with their little brother the previous night, the twins had been banished from leaving their rooms. To no one's surprise, the twins decided they wanted to be together so Ursula snuck out of her room and 'broke into' Sirius's room. It was only the middle of summer but they decided to get their summer homework out of the way. Their parents were going out for an important meeting and Regulus was probably off doing Merlin knows what it Kreacher.

"Remind me why we are doing this again when we are two of Minnie's best students," Sirius complained as he pulled out his heavy transfiguration book out from under his bed.

Ursula, who was working on Charms, answered. "Because we respect her too much not to do it. Do you happen to have the answer for number eighteen for Flitwick's assignment? I can't find it for the life of me," she said as she furiously flipped through her charm book pages.

Sirius reached over to his messenger bag to get his half finished assignment when there was a loud scream from the first floor. "URSULA WALBURGA BLACK!"

She sighed and placed the book on the floor next to her. "The mistress is calling." She said sarcastically.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up," Sirius muttered as he tried to stand up, but since the shouting match with Regulus had ended with their mother cursing Sirius, he wasn't in the best of shape.

Ursula shook her head, "Nah, I'll be fine."

Before he could object, she was out the door. She closed it behind her and mumbled locking and protections spells around it, not letting anyone get in and not letting him get out. She silently apologized to her brother and mentally made a note to make it up to him somehow.

She held her head up high as she walked down the stairs, refusing to show her parents any weakness. After the incidents the day of Narcissa's wedding, she knew she was on thin ice with them.

"YOU SCHEEMING DISGRACE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Walburga screeched the second Ursula walked into the drawing room.

Ursula put her hands into her pockets to grab her wand. She shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know what you are talking about, Mother. I would never want to disgrace this honorable house," she said glibly.

Walburga's face was red with fury and Orion's face was as emotionless as it always was. Walburga pointed her wand at her daughter's face, "YOU BINT! YOU HAVE DISHONORED THE FAMILY!"

Ursula raised an eyebrow, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We went to sign an arranged marriage contract with the Parkinson's oldest son with you, you whore. It was a calamity when we realized that it wasn't the paper; you made the conditions null and void!"

"YOU TRIED TO ARRANGE MY MARRIAGE!?" Ursula shrieked indignantly. Above them, a loud thud could be heard and Ursula flinched slightly knowing that it was Sirius trying to break down his door.

Walburga glared at Ursula, "You must be a virgin for a pureblood marriage, or at least, only have sex with the other party of the arranged marriage!"

"I've never had sex with anyone! I'm not a slut like you!"

"Then why did the paper go up in FLAMES?! YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! This marriage contract has been in the works for years!"

Suddenly Ursula was brought back to first year, laying in a bed completely blind.

_"You know, I would marry you."_

_"I James Harold Potter, solemnly swear that upon my thirty-fifth birthday, if both I and Ursula Walburga Black are unwed, I shall marry her within the year. Signed, James H. Potter."_

_"What did you do?" She asked him._

_"Charmed it."_

It was a marriage contract, a vague one, an innocent one, but one none the less. A slow smirk spread over her face as she remembered James's words and action of that day.

"The paper went up in flames because I already have a marriage contract."

There was dead silence in the room. For once in her life, Ursula saw her mother completely speechless. "You what?" Walburga asked in shock.

"You heard me, I've set up my own marriage. And guess what, it's not to one of your little blood purist, wanna-be Death Eater golden child. No, I'm going to marry a blood traitor. I'm marrying James bloody Potter!" She taunted, unable to resist taunting her parents with this knowledge. "And the only people that can break the contract are him and – HOLY CRAP!" Ursula ducked as a white colored spell flew straight towards her head. She ducked just in time and she pulled out her wand and sent a stunner towards her mother. Walburga easily deflected it and sent more and more silent spells towards her.

Ursula ducked and deflected as many as she could but it looked like her mother had snapped. There was a deranged look in her eyes that, though she would never admit it, scared her. There had always been some restraint when she cursed one of the twins, but it seemed like all of that was out the window. Her father, like the time she was beaten with his cane, just stood there and did nothing. Absolutely nothing as he watched his only daughter get attacked by her mother.

In the back of her mind, she could hear Sirius screaming from his room to be let out. The sounds of heavy things being thrown against the door echoed through the house, mingling with his swears.

It wasn't until a vivid green curse narrowly missed Ursula's head when she knew that she needed to get out of that house. Making a mad dash across the room that only a Gryffindor would dare take, she frantically grabbed floo powder and jumped in the fireplace, "NUMBER 18 GODRIC LANE!" She shouted as fast as possible.

Before she knew it, she was stumbling out into the Potter's living room.

"JAMES!" Ursula shouted in a panic.

There was no response. She stepped forward and started shouting for James and his parents. She went through almost the entire house (she avoided Mr. Potter's study and the parent's bedroom) before she came to the conclusion that they weren't home. Sighing, she checked the through one of the windows to make sure they weren't outside. They weren't.

Knowing that it was possible that one or both of her parents would follow her, she quickly thought about where the next safest place was. Remembering that Ben mentioned that he was now living with his sister, who was an auror, and his pseudo brother-in-law, who was a member of the Order, she reactivated the floo and shouted out the address Ben had given them at the end of the school year.

When she stepped out of the fireplace, panic immediately struck her heart. Sitting on the sofa were two red haired boys. The younger of the two looked to be around the age of two. He didn't notice her come in, he was too busy playing with a stuffed dinosaur. The older one looked up at her with wide eyes. He had to be around four.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Why are you in Auntie Anna's house?"

Ursula was about to answer when a voice came from the kitchen, "Bill, Dear, who are you talking to?"

"Mommy, some lady just came out of the floo!"

There was a loud clang from pots and pans falling to the ground. In barely a second a fierce looking red headed woman was brandishing her wand at Ursula. She marched forward so she was between who Ursula assumed to be her children and Ursula.

"State your name and what gives you the right to be here," The woman demanded.

Ursula immediately dropped her wand on the ground and held her hands up, "My name is Ursula Black and I am a friend of Ben's," she rapidly explained.

The woman dropped her wand before Ursula knew it; she was being engulfed in the strongest hug she had ever experienced. Ursula just stood there, unsure of what to do. The woman pulled away but left her hands on Ursula's shoulders, "Nice to meet you Dearie. Ben has told us so much about you! I'm Molly Weasley, Gideon and Fabian's older sister. Come in, come in. Make yourself at home. I was just making lunch." She ushered her forward.

By now even the two year old was looking up from his toys to look at the new person. Ursula waved at them with a soft smile on her face, "Is that a dinosaur you've got there?" She asked as she knelt down in front of him.

The kid nodded and said excitedly, "I'm gonna twain dwagons!" He exclaimed.

Ursula laughed and ruffled the kid's hair, "I'm sure you are kid."

"His name's Charlie," the older boy explained. "My name's Bill. Are you really the girl Uncle Benny fancies?"

A light blush spread over her cheeks. She swallowed and asked, "Has 'Uncle Benny' really said that?"

Bill shrugged, "He always denies it when Uncle Gideon says he does but he turns really red and Mommy said that that means he's lying. But he never gets yelled at for lying about it; I get yelled at for lying all the time but Mommy said that he doesn't mean to lie so he doesn't get in trouble." Charlie said in one breath.

Ursula stood up from her crouched position and looked towards the doorway that Molly disappeared into, "I'm going to find your mommy. Don't get in trouble okay?"

Bill huffed and fell against the pillows, "Why does everyone think I'll get in trouble?" he pouted to his little brother who was too interested in making the red dragon beat up the green one.

When Ursula walked into the kitchen, she couldn't believe the heavenly smell that seemed to completely encompass her. "That smells amazing, Mrs. Weasley" Ursula said as she leaned against the counter.

Mrs. Weasley chuckled, "It's just Molly. Mrs. Weasley makes me feel old."

"Alright Molly. I was just wondering if you could tell me where Ben's room is. I need to talk to him."

Molly turned around from the stove and shook her head, "I'm sorry Dear, Ben, Annabelle, and the Twins went shopping for furniture for the baby. I wanted to go with but with those two tagging along…" she said as she jabbed the wooden spoon in her hand towards the living room, "Nothing but mayhem with the both of them. They'll be back a little bit later so I can help with putting together some of their purchases."

Ursula deflated at the news. She had hoped to see Ben because if she wanted to be honest with herself, she really missed him. Not like she missed Elyse or James or Remus or Peter. The feeling she got when she was around him was what she missed the most.

Molly noticed her defeated look. "Don't feel upset, Ben feels the same way. Now enough of this moping! You are going to stay for lunch."

"But—"

"No buts," Molly said forcefully, "You are much too skinny! Come on, eat up!" She said as she shoved a plate full of vegetables, fruits, a chicken sandwich with all the works, and some mashed potatoes.

Ursula shook her head, "Molly, I couldn't possibly—"

"Eat your food."

"Yes Molly." Ursula may be a reckless Gryffindor but even she had some self preservation (even if Remus didn't think so) and although she knew Molly only for fifteen minutes, there was no way in Merlin's name that she would ever challenge her.

Molly made two plates of food for her children who went out to the backyard to eat while the girls stayed inside to eat. Molly sat down across from Ursula and looked at the girl curiously, "Ben has mentioned you have two brothers," Molly prompted.

Ursula nodded, "Sirius is my twin and Regulus is my younger brother. He's a year behind us. Sirius is the one in Gryffindor and Regulus is, unfortunately in Slytherin."

"Unfortunately?"

She nodded, "I'm sure you know that my family is known for being involved in the Dark Arts. Sirius and I hate it but Regulus seems to love it. He's the golden child of the family."

"If you ever need a place to stay for a little bit over the summer or just want a good meal, just floo to the Burrow. I would love the company. With Annabelle trying to finish up all her cases before she quits being an auror, my brothers running off and fighting, and my husband working long hours at the Ministry, it gets a little lonely."

Ursula stared at Molly in shock. Here was a woman she had just met that day and yet she was opening her house to her unconditionally. The thought of even breathing the wrong way in her 'home' was considered a horrible offense only justified because she is a 'ditry mudblood lover' and 'a disgrace to the family name' all the time. The more and more people she met outside of the society she grew up in, she found that she grew up in such a backwards world. It was unfathomable, "I couldn't possibly impose."

Molly waved away her refusal, "It's not an imposition at all! I would love to have a little more female company around; too many boys. Now, you have to have some good stories Ben. Spill," Molly gushed.

Ursula laughed and tried to think of a really good story to tell Molly, "I've got it! So there was this one time…"

The sounds of laughter echoed throughout the house for the next four hours. After finishing lunch, Ursula went to play with the boys and ended up covered in mud after playing Slay the Dragon (she was the dragon) with them.

Before anyone knew it, the floo turned green and a slightly rounder Annabelle came through first followed by her fiancée, best friend, and little brother. Ben's eyes widened when he saw Ursula sitting next to Charlie playing a different dragon slaying game with his toys.

"Wotcher Ben! I decided to stop by earlier but someone wasn't here." She accused with a slight smirk on her face.

Ben eyes widened, "How did you get out of your house? Where's Sirius?"

Ursula seemed to realize something at that moment, "I probably should be getting back. I've locked Sirius in his room long enough. Goodbye Molly, thank you for the wonderful meal." She said as she gave the older woman a brief hug. She nodded at the three other adults and added up having the peal Charlie off her leg. She walked up to the fireplace and threw some powder into it.

She turned towards the last person she needed to say goodbye to. She smiled widely at him and in a burst of confidence she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "See ya' Ben."

The last image before she spun out of sight was Ben's dumbfounded face and Fabian handing Annabelle some galleons. She laughed to herself and when she was back in her house, she quickly snuck up the stairs and undid the enchantments on Sirius's room before running to her room and diving into the safety and warmth of her covers. It was just another ordinary day, she thought to herself with a smirk.


	3. A Normal Summer Day: Part Three

_Welcome back! This is the third installment of what actually supposed to be one big prologue but as you can see, that would have been extremely long! There really isn't much to say about this chapter. The only thing I can think of is that this is the second to last chapter before they get back to Hogwarts and that the next chapter will take about a week if not longer for me to write. That is all. Please Enjoy! REVIEW!  
_

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Remus**

When Remus Lupin woke up, he felt like shit. It felt like he was carrying James and Sirius on his shoulders, his head was pounding, his heart decided to beat rapidly, and there seemed to be no force in the world that could get his eyelids to stay open. To add to that, it felt like he was about to throw up everything he had ever eaten in his life.

He rolled over onto his side and buried his head in his pillow to stop the sunlight from burning his eyes. The stupid full moon was today and if he had his way, he wouldn't move from this spot for another ten hours.

His over sensitive ears could pick up noises from downstairs. It sounded like his mother was cooking and if the smell was anything to go off of, it smelled amazingly good. There was also a rustling of papers so he guessed that his father was busy reading the paper. He was just building up the energy to get out of bed when there was the sound of someone flooing into the house.

Remus froze and tried to listen to who it was. There was a mumbling of voices; he could tell the other voice was male but that was about it. He had been so focused on trying to identify the voice that he jumped a foot in the air when he heard the unexpected knock at the door. Hoping that the person would give up and leave, he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that the person would just give up and leave.

"Come on, Moony, it's Ben."

Remus groaned but shouted hoarsely, "Come in."

There was a soft squeak as the door opened. Ben stepped into the room and took one look at Remus and said, "Mate, you look like shit."

"Feel like it too," he grumbled.

Ben shook his head and leaned against the desk. He didn't say anything, something that Remus appreciated. That was something about Ben that Remus liked; he knew when to not talk. Not like James and Sirius who could talk your ear off and somehow convince you to fly a hippogriff. Ben was the one that shut up when you needed him to.

"Why are you here?" Remus croaked, squinting at his friend.

He just shrugged, "I know today's a tough day for you and since the rest of us aren't with you like we usually are at Hogwarts, I decided to come over. A few of us were supposed to come but Elyse doesn't have her fireplace connected to the floo system, Peter's dad was forcing him to meet with some family, I think Sirius and Ursula's situation explains itself, and James's dad has been getting really sick lately. So you're stuck with me."

Remus propped himself up on his elbow, "Mr. Potter is sick?"

Ben nodded solemnly, "According to James, they think that it is a combination of old age and all of the injuries he has sustained over the years as an auror have weakened his immune system. That and the inferi attack last year didn't help him out. He's going to be fine but it was touch and go for a little bit apparently."

"No Death Eater involvement?" Remus wanted clarified. There had been nothing major since Elyse's attack last Christmas but even the smaller attacks had dwindled into nothing. He found it extremely weird, as did many others, and felt like it was the calm before the storm.

Ben shook his head, "its weird- it's like they just gave up. Ever since Elyse fought them off in that attack at the beginning of the year, nothing has happened. Anna doesn't try to show it, but I can tell she's worried."

Their conversation was broken by Mrs. Lupin shouting up the stairs that breakfast was ready. Ben walked a little closer to the bed, "Do you need help?" He asked offering his hand, knowing Remus's weakness right before the full moon as the wolf inside stole all his energy.

Remus shook his head, "I can get out of bed just fine. Besides, I'm not even fully dressed."

Ben just rolled his eyes, "Moony, we share a room for three-fourths of a year for the last three years; I've seen you in your birthday suit. I think I can handle seeing you without your shirt on."

Not having any valid argument (though now a modest shade of pink) Remus grabbed Ben's offered hand and allowed his friend to help him sit up. Remus was actually taken aback by the surprising strength that came from Ben's pull. "What the heck?" Remus asked as he rubbed his shoulder.

Ben just shrugged, looking a little sheepish, "I've been working out with Gideon a bit over the summer. I haven't really noticed a change."

But there had obviously been a change. He had lost the roundness of his face and the baby fat around his stomach. He was much leaner and his hair was now no longer cut short but falling a little bit into his eyes. Remus raised an eyebrow at the change and smirked a little bit, "Gussying yourself up for Ursula I see."

Ben tried to glare at him but his red face gave him away. "You know, you're making being nice to you very difficult."

Remus just smirked as he slowly put on a shirt and changed into better shorts, "You never denied it."

"You're right; I didn't because it's true."

The werewolf froze and turned to see his friend standing near the door, looking embarrassed but confident. "Are you being serious right now? Are you really admitting that you—"

"Fancy Ursula? Yes I am."

"Jeez mate, you're really serious about this aren't you? I mean this isn't something you can turn back on; you can't date a bloke's sister and not expect everything to remain normal if you break up."

Ben nodded, "I know, but I don't care. Come on, let's get breakfast then we can gossip like a couple of girls later."

Remus just followed down the stairs (Ben had to catch him at the end when he tripped and lost his balance) and they both made their way into the kitchen. His mother had laid out a miniature feast for them. He tried to eat something but the nauseous feeling in his stomach prevented him from eating something besides toast and a few pieces of fruit.

When his mother was satisfied that both of them ate enough food, she banished them from the kitchen so she could get everything clean. Her hands shook slightly when she picked up their plates and she kept on looking at the clock, already worrying the day was going by too fast before her beloved son turned into a werewolf. Because it was raining, the boys went to the front room where they made themselves comfortable on the two sofas.

They sat in comfortable silence. Remus could tell that Ben wanted to talk but he restrained himself, something that Remus highly appreciated. He laid down on the longer sofa and rested his head on the armrest. He closed his eyes and just laid there for a moment as he tried to relax his tense and aching body. "So have you heard anything else from James?"

"James?" Ben asked surprised.

Remus nodded slightly, "I've got letters from him but they're just…not James-ish."

Ben shrugged but looked away from Remus, "I've met up with him a few days ago; he's still as arrogant and confident as ever. Maybe he was just rushed writing the letters."

"Every time? He's hiding something from me, all of you are," Remus said softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ben wince, just confirming his suspicions. His friends were hiding something from him; something that affected him.

Ben just shook his head, "Remus, I'm going to level with you," Remus perked up, "I can't tell you." Remus fell back against the sofa, a cross frown on his face. "It's not that I don't want to; all of us do. But let's just say that we might be onto something that will help you with your furry little problem but it might blow up in our faces and we don't want to get your hopes up until we know for sure."

"Are you serious right now," Remus asked, his eyes now wide with shock. Thinking of all the days his friends looked like they hadn't got a wink of sleep, the late night excursions that he always heard them sneaking out for, the secretive smiles, the hours in the library. It all fell into place.

"What have you found? How long have you been working on it? Do you think it will work? Have you found a cure or something to just make it better? When will it be ready? Did Dumbledore sanction it? Is it illegal?" Remus asked, excitement bubbling inside of him. The thought of being cured of this wretched curse caused his thoughts to soar and his worries to dissipate. A small part of his mind reminded him that it was just his fourteen year old friends working on it, but that thought was so quiet, it went unnoticed.

Ben laughed and held up his hand to stop Remus's rapid questions, "I can't tell you what we found, but it was actually James's idea. Ursula was the one that helped the most after that, but that's all I can say. We've been working on it over a year now; it will just make it better, not actually cure it. We will know when it will be ready in a few weeks. Dumbledore has no idea what we are doing and it is as illegal as _hell_. But the chances of us getting caught are so minimal that is a joke."

Remus bit back the thousands of questions running through his mind. He needed to know what his friends were doing; putting themselves at some risk. If any of them got hurt…he would never be able to forgive himself. But instead of the interrogation he wanted from Ben, he bit his tongue and instead said, "So Ursula, huh?" Remus prompted, remembering their conversation before breakfast.

Ben groaned but answered none the less, "I don't know mate. She's Ursula Black for crying out loud! I've known her for three years and all of a sudden last year I started to get nervous around her and then this summer, well, I've already told you about that. But no matter how much I fancy her, she's still my roommate's sister and one of my closest friends."

"Exactly," Remus said, "she's Ursula Black; one of the most intelligent, most beautiful, most mischievous girls in the entire school."

The other boy raised his eyebrow, "Should I worry about competition from you?"

Remus chuckled but winced when his ribs caught on fire at the sudden movement, "Nah, I care for her like a sister. But you should be worried about James and Sirius's reaction to this."

"That's why I'm not going to do anything rash. Enough about me and my life, have any girls caught your fancy yet?"

He was about to answer when suddenly the room got fuzzy and started to spin. Something really bad must have happened because a flash of red moved from the sofa and moved closer to him. He heard someone shout for his mom and dad but the voice sounded…wonky. The last thing he remembered seeing was his best friend's concerned brown eyes before darkness enveloped him.

When he opened his eyes he found himself back up in his room. It felt like the Hogwarts band was using his head as a practice room. Ignoring the pain, he opened his eyes and saw that the sun had about an hour left in the sky. There was a folded piece of paper on his bed stand. Reaching out with in aching arm, he grabbed the parchment and read the note left by his friend.

_Your mom said that you would probably be out cold for the rest of the afternoon and that I should just go home. Sorry for just leaving like that but you aren't exactly stimulating when unconscious, mate. I'll see you at the Potter's in a couple weeks. _

Remus chuckled at the note but stared coughing when his dry throat decided it didn't like laughter. A few seconds later, his dad appeared at the side of his bed and gave his son a glass of water. Remus gulped down the entire glass.

"Thanks," he croaked out.

Mr. Lupin shook his head, "It's no problem. I actually came up here to get you. The moon rises in about half an hour and—"

"I know, I know," Remus grumbled and threw his comforter off him. He threw off his shirt and put on his ratty, old bathrobe. Once wearing that, he slipped on his pants and followed his father down the stairs and into the basement.

It was not a normal basement. The walls had been reinforced with concrete and multiple steel columns. The windows were barred, as was the door. It was his personal prison; his torture chamber. His father gave him one last pitying look before turning around and locking the metal door.

Remus sighed and sat down on the cold floor and waited for the full moon to shine through the window, effectively turning him into the most disgusting, revolting, horrific monster he could have imagined.

He didn't have to wait long. Not ten minutes after being locked in, the moon's cruel, eerie glow lit up the room. The pain was horrific. He screamed in torture, crying to himself, asking why him? Why? Just why? Why was he a monster? He never had time to answer his own questions though the pain. His mind went blank, his eyes dilating causing his last image to be of a hazy room.

* * *

**A completely and utterly normal summer day according to Benjamin**

"BENJAMIN! HURRY UP YOU LAZY SOD!" A loud, booming male voice shouted down the hallway. Ben just rolled his eyes at his pseudo-brother-in-law's shouting. He dog eared the page he was on in his book before getting off his bed and walking towards the kitchen.

Ben brushed past Gideon, who was cooking dinner, and stole a piece of toast off the platter and part of the Prophet before taking his usual seat across from Annabelle. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her shirt, "Isn't that mine?"

She shrugged as she spread peanut butter over her blueberry pancakes, "My shirt didn't fir me anymore. Your nephew is being a pain in the ass and growing too fast."

Ben raised an eyebrow, "I thought you didn't know the gender yet?"

Annabelle glared at him, "its called mother's intuition. Look it up."

He raised his hand in surrender, "Merlin, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"You know what Ben, why don't I stick a child in you see how you like to quit your job, get obnoxious mood swings, crave blueberries and peanut butter, and make you not able to fit into your clothes!" She shoved her plate away from her and stormed away.

Gideon sighed and placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of the shocked Ben. "Don't worry about it, she's been snapping at me all day. All the stress isn't helping her either."

"Stress about what? Nothing's going on?" Ben questioned, knowing that there was a lull in the fighting going on right now. If anything, Annabelle got pregnant at the perfect time. Well, the most perfect time you can get when having a baby in the middle of these times.

The older man sighed and collapsed in the chair next to Ben, "That's exactly it. Nothing's going and there should be something. It's a waiting game and we are on the side in the dark. After your friend's attack, they dropped off the face of the world and that makes us think they are gathering forces or planning something big."

"Why do you think they stopped?" Ben asked, grasping at the opportunity to learn more about the war. The Prophet was printing rubbish and none of the adults ever wanted to talk about it. Every time he was forced to go visit Molly, Arthur, and the kids (not that he minded, he enjoyed visiting them) he had to deal with the tense silence that always preceded the Order meetings. His own father and mother never told him what was going on, his mother saying that they wanted him to stay out of it and let the adults handle it.

He thought that was the biggest load of b.s. he had ever heard.

But who was he to argue with his mother and father, who mind you was the Minister of Magic. But with that being said, his sister a former Auror, and the Prewett Twins in the Order, he was surrounded by information he wasn't allowed to know. At times it was maddening. But he wasn't friends with the likes of James and Sirius for no reason. He had snuck into his father's office and read some papers that he may or may not should have seen. To say the least, after seeing the pictures and reading the reports, there was a new fire in him to get justice for those people and to stop Lord Voldemort.

Gideon swallowed and looked at the hallway Annabelle disappeared into. Then he leaned forward and spoke softly, "What I'm about to say stays between us, kid. The Death Eaters stopped after the attack on Kiltimagh is because a third year was able to fight them off. I don't know what Elyse told you, but she did some significant damage to some of them, plus she made a full bodied patronus.

"I think that scared and excited Voldemort. He's scared because there were kids out there that could successfully fight his forces and excited because now he wants her. Muggleborn or not, she's powerful and he recognizes that. So there are few theories flying around. He might be scouting talent, especially in your year because whether you know it or not, you and your friends' magical skill is impressive and it's catching a lot of people's attention. Minerva said that all of you set school records in at least one subject for on practice OWL exams.

"Another idea is that he might be doing is going abroad to gain more support. And I don't just mean the wizard or witch kind; I'm talking dark creatures, trolls, ogre's, centaurs, werewolves, and the like. That's a distinct possibility. Then there's the last idea, which is mainly Annabelle's—"

He was abruptly cut off.

"I think he's going to go after our family." Annabelle said from the doorway, "Dad's been playing backdoor politics and soon it's going to be an all out war and right now the only thing in Voldemort's way is Dad. So right now Mom's in danger every time Dad goes to work. That's the reason why we make you stay with Molly and Arthur when we aren't home. That's why when we found out that Ursula flooed to our house completely unannounced and was able to get past the wards, he locked up the floo and only allow certain people through."

Ben was silent as he tried to absorb what he was hearing. Everything seemed much worse and scarier than even those reports, "This is real, isn't it?" He muttered to himself.

Annabelle scoffed and but looked sadly at her brother, "Four years ago, we all thought this would be taken care of by now. It hadn't even started then. Hell, it hasn't even started now."

"So we're just waiting around like sitting ducks! We should be out doing something!" Ben said.

Annabelle rolled her eyes but walked (waddled) closer to the table. She grabbed her brother's hand and placed it on her protruding stomach. "Do you feel that? Feel the little fluttering. That is your nephew in there, your family, my _son_. I may be impulsive and reckless and addicted to danger, but I will never, _ever_ put my family in danger. And if I decide to stop my good ol' Voldie's place and try to take him down now, both of us would die."

Ben did feel the soft kicks under his hand. He couldn't tell if it was just the baby moving or if it was really kicking, but Ben just kept his hand there in awe of the life underneath his hand. "Hey, buddy, I'm your Uncle Ben," He said softly as he rubbed his thumb a little bit over the place the baby was moving the most.

"Benny, as much as I love you, you're petting my stomach and it's a bit weird."

"Like you have room to talk! I say you scolding your stomach yesterday because he was 'being a bad boy'," Gideon joked.

Annabelle rolled her eyes and took a step back and stretched her arms up before placing them against the small of her back. "He was making me crave marshmallows and broccoli! You tell me if that sounds appetizing to you," she challenged.

Both boys shuddered at the thought of such a combination. Annabelle smirked at their reactions. Then the smile slipped off her face.

"I actually came in here to tell you that Fabian sent a patronus. There's an emergency Order meeting; Dumbledore has some information about the location of some suspected Death Eaters. He wants you there yesterday."

Gideon sighed and pushed himself away from the table. At that moment, Ben noticed how old he looked. Though Gideon was only twenty-three, he already had lines around his face and they weren't all laugh lines. He put on a deceptively happy smile before giving Annabelle a quick kiss before disapparating. Annabelle sighed as well and looked at the spot her fiancée disappeared from.

Ben found it unnerving; the former epitome of prankster Gryffindors had now seemingly lost all their spark and bright outlook on life. It was few and far days in between the jokes and laughter; it was too tense and stressful.

"I guess it's just you and me kid," Annabelle said as she clapped him on the shoulder. "Want to help me with this kid's nursery?"

He nodded and followed Annabelle down the hallway to the room across the hall from her and Gideon's room. He opened the door and out of nowhere, a bucket of honey immediately followed by a bucket of feathers fell on him. He stood there in shock as Annabelle was practically doubled over, wheezing with laughter. He spun around and glared at her as honey dripped out of his hair and streamed down his face over some of the feathers.

"Annabelle Grace White," He growled.

She seemed to be having a hard time standing up straight and soon Ben found a smile twitching at the corner of his lips as he tried to imagine how absurd he must look right now.

There was a flash of a camera and Ben's head snapped in the direction and looked mortified when he saw the camera hanging from the window curtain rod. He rushed forward and tried to pull out the film but it was impossible.

Annabelle was finally able to straighten up and stop laughing so hard. She wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled out her wand. She vanished all the feathers and honey with a still chuckling voice.

"And you thought we were losing our touch," she chided him before walking into the nursery.

Ben stared, shocked for a moment before he rushed forward and walked into the baby's room. "How— whe—Wha?"

"Come on Benny boy, you know a prankster never reveals their secrets," she said mysterious as she folded some onesies. "So when are you going to grow a pair and ask out Ursula Black?"

Ben nearly choked on his spit, "What!"

She shrugged as if she had said nothing odd, "When are you going to ask Ursula Black out?"

"I don't know, eventually. I can't botch this up and expect everything to go back to normal if we break up. I live with her brother and three of our closest friends. It would get awkward real fast."

Annabelle raised an eyebrow, "Who said anything about marriage? I just wanted to know if you were going to man up and finally ask her because quite honestly, you have been stringing that girl along for too long."

"I'm not stringing her along! I just don't want us to fall apart and have everything get ugly if people had to choose sides if we broke up."

She shook her head, "Who said anything about breaking up or staying together forever? Merlin, you're what fourteen? You shouldn't go into stuff looking at only the worst possible outcome; you'll go mad and never get anything done."

"But what if-"

"Yeah, what if I broke up Gideon in sixth year when he got feed a love potion and almost shagged another girl? You can't always take the easy way out. Relationships take work and as long as your care for the person and you are willing to work at it, I see no reason why you can't be happy with this girl. And between you and me, I think this girl could end up being the best thing that happens to you in Hogwarts. How many people do you know like her? None; exactly. So get your butt in gear and ask the girl out!"

"You know the same could be said about you and marrying Gideon," Ben shot back, grasping at anything to one up his sister.

Annabelle laughed and held up her left hand, "I have one of the rings around my finger. That and I have his child in my uterus right now. We're just as married as any other couple that went the traditional route. Don't even try."

Ben didn't have an argument to that. He just stood in the middle of the room as he thought about what Annabelle said to him. His conversation with Remus came to mind too. After mulling the advice and opinions around in his head, he thought that maybe, just maybe, it was time for him to 'grow a pair' (as Annabelle oh so eloquently put it) and move forward with Ursula.

He thought of the pictures and worries of his family over this war. A slightly terrifing thought hit him as he thought of Ursula and Sirius's home life; if their mother or cousin or brother snapped...it could be the end of both of them. Then Ursula would never know that he fancied her. With that thought, Ben resolved to speak to Sirius and James as soon as possible.


	4. To Moony

_**IMPORTANT** It was brought to my attention that my last chapter was a repost. I fixed it as soon as it was brought to my attention. I am so sorry for my mistake; I accidentally named to documents the same. If you haven't read the real chapter three, GO READ IT NOW. please?_

_This is the last chapter before Hogwarts so I hope you enjoy the longest chapter I have ever written. Enjoy!_

* * *

It was the first sunny day in two weeks and James jumped at the chance to go out in the sunlight. It was a brilliant feeling, stepping out into the cool summer's breeze. The summer so far hadn't been exactly the best one of his life like he had hoped it would be. It had been rough the first couple of days when he realized that the 'cold' his father had was actually much more serious. When James woke up in the middle of the night to hear his father hacking up mucus and blood, he nearly had a heart attack. He rushed into his parents' room and saw his mother struggling to help his father sit up. Thinking on pure instinct, he ran forward and used the muscles that he had developed from two years of Quidditch and sat his father up. Once he was able to breathe a little bit better, his mother grabbed him and his dad and apparated them to St. Mungo's. They stayed there for three days.

It was that night that Ursula had shown up in his house, James learned later.

He had just stepped outside to get a bit of fresh air; he hated hospitals. It was sad and depressing but when you add wizards with strange ailments/problems, it became a muggle carnival (or at least, what Elyse described as a carnival). He was sipping on some of the tea he had poured in the waiting room breathing in the soothing smell that wafted up to his nose. Then out of nowhere, a familiar owl swooped down and landed on his shoulder.

Recognizing the bird as Thalia, Ursula and Sirius's birthday a few years ago from his parents, he immediately opened the envelope that had his name scrawled on it. The handwriting was slanted and some of the ink was smudged; it looked like it was frantically written.

_James,_

_Ursula just left the house. Something about an arranged marriage and that contract you made and then there was a fight. She flooed out of the house shouting your address. She locked me in my room and you know how good her lock charms are— I swear even Dumbledore couldn't break them. I can't get out of here to find her. Did she make it safely?_

The letter hadn't even been signed before Sirius shoved it in an envelope. At that moment, it was the last thing that he needed. He shouted in frustration, scaring some muggles across the street as he punch the window behind him. He didn't even care that shattered part of the entrance to St. Mungo's.

He pulled out his wand and thrust it out towards the street. He barely waited a second before the Night Bus appeared. After quickly paying a fee and taking a seat near the front of the bus, he was home in a few minutes.

Bursting into his house shouting Ursula's name, he panicked when no one responded. He searched up and down thinking of all the things that could have happened to her. She might be wandering around Godric's Hollow; she wasn't clear and she ended up at the wrong house; the most terrifying possibility involved her parents following after her. But there was no signs of a fight or struggle and James knew that Ursula would have fought to the death.

Remembering the tracing spell from a book he stumbled across earlier that month, he walked over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder into the flames. Once they were green, he pointed his wand and said the incantation to reveal the last person was sent. He knew that his mother had used it just the day before to visit one of her friends so when he heard Ursula's voice saying Ben's address come from the fireplace, James took steps backwards and fell against the sofa in relief. After writing a quick response to Sirius, he attached it to Thalia's leg (she had followed him from the hospital) and he went back outside and traveled back to the hospital by the Night Bus.

James remembered the conversation they had once his father was feeling better and they were all back home.

_James was sitting with his parents at breakfast when he said, "Mom, Dad, Ursula flooed over here five days ago."_

_Both his parents stopped what they were doing, Mr. Potter reading the newspaper and his mother baking a cake. "What? Where is she?" His mom asked._

"_We weren't at home. We were at Mungo's with Dad when Thalia showed up with a letter from Sirius. Mom, I don't know what happened or why it did; something about an arranged marriage. All I know is that she came here first." _

_Evangeline Potter seemed to stand up a little straighter when she heard that, "Of course she would. This is her home."_

_James opened his mouth to contradict her but before he could even get out a syllable, his mother cut him off with a ferocious glare she rarely used on his, "Don't you dare argue that with me James Charlus. That house they live in is not their home; this is. Now go clean up your room."_

"_But mom—"_

"_Now." She said forcefully._

_He turned on his heels towards his room but instead took the stairs to the basement and went to the far right corner of the unused space to check on the potion that had been brewing there ever since he got home from Hogwarts. Covered in illusionment spells and other magical wards to stop sound and smell, the potion was nearly complete. All he had to do was add a little more of the valerian roots at the end and that part of the animagus transformation would be complete and they would be able to tell Moony about their plan._

_But things for once didn't turn out in James's favor. He walked up stairs to see that his mother had blocked off his entire hallway and he had no way of getting to his room. _

"_Mom, what the hell is this?" He demanded in shock._

_She scolded him, "Watch the language young man. If you aren't going to clean your room, then I will for you. It's about time to get your room updated; we haven't changed it since you went to Hogwarts!"_

_With that, he was banished to the living room which he had turned into a miniature fortress of pillows. A banner hung from the entrance declaring the space MINISTRY OF EXCELLENCE._

Three weeks later and James still hadn't been allowed back in his room. He had spent enough time in his fort that he was about to go stir crazy and start switching the sugar and salt around (he had made a deal with his parents that as long as he never pranked them, they would turn a blind eye to whatever he did at Hogwarts) because he was so bored.

Now he was sitting out in his backyard, itching to grab his broom and practice a new Quidditch move he had been dying to try all summer. But the new muggle neighbors down the street effectively put an end to that. James might be able to get away with using magic over the summer at home but there was no chance in Merlin's name that he would be able to get out of a trouble if a muggle saw him flying on a broom.

He had just sat down on the lush green grass when two unfamiliar owls landed next to him. Between the two of them was a package that was wrapped in simple brown paper that had his mother's name written on it. The package was heavier than James expected. When he tried to open it, the two owls started pecking viciously at his fingers.

"Oi! I get it!" He yelled at the birds. He dug into his pocket and grabbed a couple of sickles in the pouch attached to one of their legs. Satisfied with the payment, they flew away and James was free to open the package.

Just as he was about to, a shadow appeared. He looked up, caught red handed by his mother, and smiled charmingly. "Hello, Mom. How're you?"

She put her hand on her hip and looked about as animated as McGonagall during dinner. "James. Is that for me?"

He nodded but he didn't hand it over, "What is it?"

His mom smiled mysteriously, "Carry it into the house and you'll find out."

James grabbed the package and carried it while following his mother back into the house. She walked into the kitchen, through the living room and around MINISTRY OF EXCELLENCE, up the stairs and down the hallway. James followed behind her, excitement growing with every step closer to his room. He bit his tongue but when she lowered the block at the end of his hallway, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this something for my room?"

"Not really."

She opened James door and motioned for him to walk in. At first, he didn't notice anything different about his room. The color was still the same, as a matter of fact; everything was the same as he remembered. He turned to complain to his mom when he saw the other half of the room. There was a second bed that had similar sheets on it. An extra dresser was next to the door and there were mainly pictures of Sirius, Ursula, James, and a few with the rest of their friends hanging on the wall.

"Wha—Is this some weird way to tell me you're pregnant or something?"

Mrs. Potter chuckled and shook her head. She motioned to the package still in James's hand. "Open it." She told him.

James did as he was told, grumbling the entire time, "I swear to Merlin, if there are baby booties in here…" He stopped when he saw the gold plate just like the one already adorning his door. But instead of saying James, it read Sirius. He picked it up and right underneath it was one that had Ursula engraved on it. Immediately, James understood what his mother had been doing.

A smile spread across his face and he laughed, "This is what you've been doing!? This is brilliant!"

"I thought you would think so. Would you like to do the honors?" She asked motioning to the door.

James smirked and pulled his wand out from his pocket. He unstuck his plaque and moved it over the left. Then he picked up Sirius's and placed it just to the right of his name. After a quick sticking charm, a warm feeling swept over him as he looked at Sirius's name with his on the door. There was something…familial…about it. James. Sirius. Like brothers sharing a room. Now all they needed was the sister…

He turned and saw his mom was standing in front of what used to be the girls' guest room but it now proudly proclaimed itself as Ursula's room. "What did you change in there?" James asked as he tried to peak into the room.

Mrs. Potter quickly closed the door before he could see anything. "A girl deserves her privacy and you'll be good to mind that."

"But Mom, I want to see—"

"James, I finally have the child I've always wanted coming to live with me. You are not going to mess this up by booby trapping her room." She said sternly.

He clutched at his heart dramatically, "But Mommy! I thought I was your favorite child!"

She rolled her eyes and put her wand away before addressing her son, "Unless you are suddenly of the opposite gender, Ursula is my favorite. Now go clean up my living room. I want it presentable when your friends show up tomorrow." Though her words were harsh, she smiled at her son and ruffled his already messy hair affectionately.

"But—"

"No buts James. Just do what I said. Your friends are going to be staying here for a while and I don't want this house to look like a pig sty. Now, I know that Ursula and Sirius are showing up tomorrow and Ben, Elyse, and Peter are showing up the day after. Did you ever hear back from Remus for when he is coming?"

Coolly, James responded immediately with a lie, "He's not feeling well right now so he won't be coming. If he feels better, he might drop by."

She sighed sadly, "Poor Remus. He always seems to be getting ill." With a final shake of her head she turned back down the hallway.

James waited until she was far enough away before reaching out to open Ursula's door. His hand had just touched the doorknob when his mother shouted from the first floor, "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

He jumped a foot in the air, "How the bloody hell does she do that?" He muttered to himself.

"WATCH THE LANGUAGE!"

Deciding that the hallway was unsafe, James quickly scampered off to the safety of his room to rig Sirius's pillows to turn into giant cockroaches when he goes to the bed tomorrow night.

It was bright and early the next morning when the Ursula and Sirius Black tumbled through the fireplace into the Potter's living room. The pair only carried on bag each; the bags that Ben got them for their birthday a few years back.

They looked around the seemingly empty living room, unsettled that the house was silent.

"James did say he would be here right?" Sirius asked Ursula.

Ursula nodded. There was a soft squeak from somewhere in the house and both twins instantly reached into their pockets for their wands.

"Did you hear that?" Ursula asked him.

"I did." James said in a deep voice before spinning around in one of the armchairs. Sitting on his lap was a white cat that he was stroking as he regarded the twins with glaring eyes. "I also heard about you running away to my house without a single explanation. I also happened to hear something about a marriage arrangement that I saved you from but once again, not a single explanation." He accused.

Ursula rolled her eyes at his antics, "Stop with the dramatics. It's kind of complicated to explain all of that in a letter."

"But my dear Ursula, I was under the impression that since I was opening my home to you out of the goodness of my heart, I would be privy to more of the goings on in both of your lives. But alas, I was mistaken! Now I truly know what my friendship means to you!" He practically shouted the end.

Just then, the sound of the backdoor opened and Mrs. Potter walked in covered in dirt. She smiled when she was the twins, "Hello Dears. I heard James shouting from the garden and I figured I should come save you two." She looked at her son and when she did, it became quite obvious where James got his questioning face from. "Honey, we don't have a cat," she said slowly.

James groaned, "You always ruin my fun." He pulled out his wand and with a tap of the wand, the cat was now the vase that Mrs. Potter insisted on keeping, no matter how many times James and Mr. Potter 'accidentally' broke it.

Mrs. Potter sighed exasperated, "You know you're underage. You can't pick and choose which laws you are going to follow!"

"I don't choose any; I disregard all of 'em," James said nonchalantly.

The Blacks laughed thinking of what they were going to be doing to following day, knowing full well that Mrs. Potter would definitely _not_ approve.

She just shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder where I went wrong with you. Then I remember that I dropped you on the head as a baby and it all makes sense. Now why don't you get up and greet your friends properly?"

James sighed in mock exasperation and hugged Ursula. With one arm still wrapped around Ursula, he turned towards Sirius and said, "Sorry, Padfoot. You don't get a hug."

Sirius feigned sadness, "I thought we had something special!" He cried.

That sent the two boys into a dramatic argument. Ursula remained under James's arm not so much by choice as by force. But being trapped did give her a good chance to see how her friend had changed in the almost three months since she had seen him. For the first time, Ursula noticed how attractive he was. Dark messy hair with handsome looks and striking eyes; he was one attractive bloke. Add to that he had gained some muscle and was no longer boney. Well, his shoulders had filled out. But when his leg moved and hit against her knee, she looked down to see the knobbiest knees ever seen to Hogwarts. That was something that she had a feeling would never change. The last change that Ursula noted was his voice. She had noticed her brother's voice had dropped a lot recently but she hadn't really thought about the same thing happening to her other male friends. But she did know this for sure; Lily was going to have a hard time resisting James now.

"Here, let me show you two lazy bums to where you'll be staying," James said with a smirk while tightening his grip on Ursula, snapping her out of her musings. "Checking me out, love?" He teased her when he saw her lingering gaze.

Ursula rolled her eyes and ducked out from his arm, "Nah, I've got my eyes on another bloke. I was just thinking that Lily might not be able to resist your advances much longer if you keep this up."

James puffed his chest out slightly at that praise, "You think?" He asked as he led them towards the stairs.

"I think the more important question Prongsie is who this other bloke is," Sirius butted in.

James stopped halfway up the stairs and blocked Ursula's way. He crossed his arms and smirked down at her arrogantly, "Yeah, Ursula. Who is this bloke?"

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "Like you don't know."

"I don't know if I know. While I do have a superior level of intelligence to most people, my Lily-love will attest that I am lacking the romance department. For all we know it could be that Ravenclaw that you had to work on that paper with second year. Or maybe it's Gabe Abbott; I don't know how anyone can resist his girly hair and squeaky voice. What about that fourth year Gryffindor, Richard, I think his name is? I saw you giving him the eyes when he showed you where the potions section of the library was." James taunted.

Ursula never responded to his taunts. She froze when she walked up to her usual guest room and saw the door. Her name was on it. "James?" She asked softly.

The said boy was smiling but it wasn't his usual smirk. No, he looked genuinely pleased with himself from doing something good. "Go ahead and open it," he said as he gestured towards the door.

As he led Sirius into his room to show him where to put his stuff, Ursula still stood outside her room. She reached up and gently traced her name writing in Mrs. Potter's elegant cursive. Slowly she opened her door and when she saw the room that Mrs. Potter made for her, and her breath was stolen straight out of her lungs.

It was perfect.

Later that night, the trio walked in through the kitchen all muddy and covered in grass stains. They all had brooms swung over their shoulders and James was holding onto a Quaffle.

"You know, you might be onto something with that twist path. Depending on who the new chaser is, we might be able to pull that off." Ursula commented.

James nodded, "And if the kid's complete rubbish, we always fall back on our pair work. If we can get Cormac and Liam on board with the bludger feign, then we have a good chance of surprising the Slytherins in the first match of the year."

"I don't care about all that Quidditch stuff," Sirius said as he stole an apple from the counter.

James looked at him as if he had just said he was in love with Snape, "What are you on about?! Quidditch is the best—"

"Thing that has ever happened to all of wizard kind and it should be treated as such. If you don't care about Quidditch then you can go blah blah, blah blah." Sirius said, knowing the speech James was about to give him. "I love Quidditch, just not as much as you two; that's why I'm not on the team. I'm more interested in that pond we flew over today. We should go there tomorrow. Before we do," He was cut off when Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked into the kitchen.

"Do what Sirius?" Mr. Potter asked in a raspy voice.

"Nothing Dad."

Mrs. Potter gave them a disbelieving look and was about to dig into Sirius to find out what they were going to do, when Ursula jumped in, "James didn't do part of his homework so we were going to force him to do it tomorrow, even if we needed to use magic and force." It sickened Ursula to lie to Mrs. Potter but they were so close to really starting the animagus process. Besides, if she did find out after tomorrow, the chances of her turning them into the Ministry were zero.

She bought the lie and gave Ursula a small half-hug when she gave her son a look, "Thank you Dear. James, you are going to finish your homework tomorrow before your friends get here. Is that clear?"

James glowered at Ursula but his eyes thanked her, "Yes mom," he mumbled.

"Now off you three! I want you all clean for dinner!" She shooed them out of the kitchen. Mr. Potter just laughed as he opened the Prophet while he waiting for dinner to be served.

Twenty minutes later the family of five was sitting around the table, enjoying the plentiful meal that Mrs. Potter prepared. Mr. Potter placed his fork on his plate and turned towards Ursula, "I've heard that this technically isn't your first visit to our home this summer," he prompted.

Ursula shook her head, "No. It's not." She said softly.

"Would you care to elaborate on that?" Mr. Potter pushed. "We already heard the vague details from James but I am curious as to what happened."

She swallowed loudly and took a sip of water before beginning her answer, "My Mother tried to set an arranged marriage for me to Nott. When they tried to sign the paper, it would burst into flames. They soon realized that I had something to do with it. They assumed that it was because I wasn't a virgin anymore." She didn't need to elaborate more on that idea. Both being purebloods themselves, the adults understood why that would cause the paper to burst into flames.

"You are still a…" Mr. Potter trailed off awkwardly.

Ursula blushed bright red as did her brother and friend. "Yeah, I'm a virgin." She said softly, trying to control the blood rushing to her face.

"So where does James come into this?" Mrs. Potter asked.

Ursula smiled at the memory, "As you know, James wrote out that marriage agreement; the one where if we don't marry someone by the time we are thirty-five? That was considered a legitimate marriage contract and since it was signed by James, Sirius, and me, it overrode what they were trying to do."

The parents regarded her solemnly, "We're so sorry for what you had to go through. If we had been home at the time, we would have flooed right back to your house and given Orion and Walburga a piece of our minds," Mr. Potter said as he clenched his fist tightly.

It disgusted him. The girl he viewed as the daughter he could never have, having to suffer like that. No child should have to live in a house like they did. Maybe, they could make this end of the summer visit to be the entire summer. Their names on their rooms already made this their home; they shouldn't be forced to go back to that hell hole. He caught the eyes of his wife and he could see she was thinking the exact same thing.

It was time to make turn the Blacks into Potters. And soon.

After dinner was over, Ursula was putting her clothes away in the bureau when she heard a soft knock on her door. "Come in!"

The door silently opened. James walked in and whistled when he saw the room. "Mom did good in here, didn't she?" He asked as he stood in the doorway. She nodded absentmindedly while putting away her stuff.

"The potion is ready." He said after a moment of silence. "It just finished simmering this morning, just before you and your brother showed up in fact. I have it fixed so we have extra time. Dad has an appointment at St. Mungo's tomorrow at five so I was figuring if we 'work' on homework tomorrow morning before everyone shows up and then spend some time at the pond, that should waste enough time so we don't get caught."

She just kept on nodding.

James smirked, "I found out that Lysie snogged Padfoot."

Ursula didn't make any reaction to his words.

"Lily confessed her undying love for me."

"I blew up my neighbor's house."

"McGonagall and I are running away together."

"Dumbledore shaved his beard."

"Snivellus washed his hair."

Once again, nothing.

Smirking, James said what he knew would get a reaction out of her, "Ben owled me. He's got a girlfriend."

Ursula jumped, "What!? Who? What house is she—you bastard." She growled at him when he doubled over in laughter.

"Come on, Ursula, take a joke. It got you to react, didn't it?" James jumped on her bed and kicked his feet up. He put his hands behind his head and looked down at her triumphantly.

She huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "You know, I am quite close to a certain red head. It would do well for you to remember that."

James looked offended, "How dare you try to hold that over my head! Here I was trying to be a good friend and leave the comfort of my own room to make sure that you like your room and then you go threaten me like that!"

Ursula rolled her eyes, "What did you do to Sirius?" She asked deadpanned.

He dropped the act and smirked, "Transfigured his pillow to turn into a cockroach when he lies down."

"I guess you'll be even then." Ursula said.

James sat up straight up. "What do you mean?"

She just shrugged, "Did you happen to take a shower already?"

He nodded slowly with his eyes wide with fear. She smirked slightly, "Then you'll find out in ten to twelve hours."

Before James could freak out any further, a loud scream came from across the hall, "JAMES!"

Ursula stood and pulled James to his feet and shoved him out of her room. "Have fun dealing with him. And don't forget, you might not want to look at a mirror for a while. It seems it is already beginning to happen."

James's eyes widened, utterly horrified, before she slammed the door in her face. He saw his door fly open and heard a soft click as his only sanctuary – Ursula's room – was locked. "Bloody—"That was all he got out before Sirius tackled him to the ground.

The next morning the two boys were sitting in the front room, wearing just shorts with beach towels slung over their shoulders. Ursula was being logical and taking a shower _before_ going swimming.

"When is everyone else showing up Prongs?" Sirius questioned.

James quickly checked the clock, "Ben should be getting here any minute, then Peter, and finally Elyse. My Mom already went to pick her up but considering how much my mom loves her parents, she's going to spend a day and a half talking."

Sirius nodded but then froze. A smirk slowly formed on his lips and he grabbed James's arm and pulled him closer to hear his plan, "So Ben fancies Sissy, no? And she fancies him back, hm?"

The other boy nodded, not understanding what Sirius was trying to say; this was common knowledge for all of Hogwarts.

"While I approve of Ben dating Sissy, I'm not about to make this easy for him."

James caught onto Sirius drift and shared the same smile, "I'm in." He was still slightly miffed about Ursula lying to him about the 'prank' Sirius had pulled on him. He had been paranoid all day expecting his hair to fall off or his skin to turn blue. It was only when his mother started questioning his sanity that Ursula admitted what she had done. While James had to admit that it was a good prank, if was against him which was unacceptable so now he was out for revenge.

"Perfect. Here's what we're going to do…"

When Ben flooed into the Potter's house, the first thing he saw was James and Sirius sitting close together half naked. They looked like they knew something no one else did and it unnerved him a bit, to be honest. He raised an eyebrow at them, "What's going on with you two?"

Sirius chuckled, unable to hold it in. "You'll see."

"SIRIUS! JAMES! WHAT THE HELL?" An angry, distinctively familiar voice shouted from upstairs. There was a thundering of footsteps and the person took the stairs three at a time. When she stepped around the corner, Ben's jaw dropped and his mouth went dry. Ursula came storming down the stairs, her cheeks flushed with anger, her hair a wild curly mess, only wearing a black bikini. "WHERE THE HELL ARE MY CLOTHES!?"

The only thing he could think about was how he didn't notice her change. For some reason, he always saw her as the first year. He never, ever in his wildest dreams, could have imaged that she was hiding _that_ underneath her Hogwarts uniform.

"Bloody hell," he muttered.

Ursula seemed to snap out of it when she saw the other boy in the room. Her cheeks flushed even brighter and she wrapped her arms around her torso, "Hello Ben. Um, how are you?" She asked. She shuffled her feet and tried to discreetly move behind the sofa.

Thinking on instinct, Ben took off his already unbuttoned button down, leaving him in a grey t-shirt. He held it out for her to take, "Here."

She grabbed the red flannel and glared at her brother and James. She quickly put it on and buttoned it up, leaving only the top few undone. The shirt was so long on her that it went down to her thighs. She rolled up the sleeves while she glared at her brother. "Bastards," Ursula hissed at them. Ben didn't notice her hostile look; he could only think of how good she looked in his clothing. His stomach tightened and his breathing was shallow as he watched her.

The boys just smirked. At that moment, Mrs. Potter appeared with Elyse. Ursula quickly grabbed their muggleborn friend and ran up the stairs. Ben turned towards the two black haired boys. "What was that about?" Ben demanded, the red blush still burning on his cheeks from seeing Ursula dressed like that.

Sirius slung his arm over Ben's shoulders, "While I can't think of anyone else I would want my sister to date, did you honestly think that I would make this easy for you, King?"

Ben gulped audibly at the look on both Sirius's and James's face. No, they weren't going to make this easy for him at all.

The pond they went to was completely covered by trees. There would have been no way for them to find it if Sirius hadn't been looking down while flying over the forest. Peter and Ben were currently putting up a valiant fight against James and Sirius in a water fight. But it was no use; they were losing and badly at that. On the shore of the pond, Ursula and Elyse were laying out in the sun. Elyse had put on enough sunscreen to cover all four boys and Ursula but she still sat under an umbrella. Ursula was laying next to her out in the sun, letting her pale skin soak up the summer sun.

"Pat wants te meet yeh." Elyse said after a moment of silence.

Ursula raised her eyebrow and turned her head so she was facing Elyse, "Really? Why?"

"We's kind o' datin now."

Ursula jumped up and practically tackled Elyse, "WHAT! Why didn't you tell me?! That's brilliant!"

Elyse laughed and shoved Ursula off of her, "Calm down, Ursula. I'll tell yeh!"

She then went to explain the full story and was careful not to leave any detail out. Ursula just smiled wider and wider as the story progressed. Once Elyse was done, she asked, "Does he treat you right?"

Elyse nodded, "He's a gentleman."

Ursula nodded once, "He better be. If he isn't I swear to Merlin I would kick his ass muggle style. So have you told any of the guys yet?"

Elyse gave her a look and Ursula laughed, realizing how stupid that question was, "Of course you wouldn't. But those boys are nosey as Snivellus; they're going to find out soon."

Both girls laughed at the comparison. Their laughter was cut short when hands grabbed their feet and shoulders. Ursula screamed and saw Ben and James carrying towards the pond.

"You wouldn't dare!" She shouted at them over Elyse's similar shrieks at Peter and Sirius.

Ben looked mock contemplative, "I don't know, Prongs, would we dare?"

"Good question, King. I think we would." James affirmed.

Ursula's eyes widened as they started swinging her back and forth, "I swear I'll bloody MURDER—" The rest of her sentence was cut off as she was thrown into the pond. She got a good breath in before she went under as the water burned her eyes and filled her ears. If the boys wanted a prank, they would get a prank.

Preserving her breath for as long as she could, she stayed under the water and tried not to move that much. She heard frantic shouting from above the water followed by a splash. A little bit away from her, Ursula saw the bubbles and indent of water as someone jumped in. Swimming towards her, there was a floating, ethereal halo of red came towards her. A strong arm wrapped around her torso and she was violently yanked up.

"Merlin, Ursula! Are you okay? Can you breathe?" Ben asked, panting as he tried to catch his breath. His brown eyes were wide with panic and he kept his grip on one of her arms. Ursula saw her brother and James swimming as fast as possible towards her with Peter following behind at a slower pace.

"SISSY!" Sirius shouted when he saw her. "What the hell happened; you know how to swim!" His face was extremely pale, as was all the boys'.

Unable to hold it back any longer, Ursula burst out laughing, sputtering as she tried to regain control. "You- you should have seen your faces!" She chortled.

The look on their faces was priceless. They seemed to realize that she had pranked them in their prank on her. James opened his mouth to say something (no doubt about to say something rude) when Mrs. Potter apparated to the edge of the pond.

"JAMES! I'M TAKING YOUR FATHER TO HIS APPOINTMENT! I WANT YOU IN THE HOUSE NOW!"

James held up a thumbs up, "GOT IT!"

The six teens swam towards the shore and climbed out. They wrapped towels around themselves and started trudging back towards the Potter's house. All the way they grumbled about not being able to dry themselves off because they weren't under a wizard's roof. As they walked through the forest, Ursula tripped on a tree root and would have fallen if Ben hadn't reached out and caught her.

"Thanks," she said as she gave him a small smile.

His heart fluttered a bit but he made no show of that. Instead, he reached down and grabbed her hand and helped her balance over the twisted, exposed tree roots. When they were out of the dense part of the forest and back in Godric's Hollow, he still didn't let go of her hand and she made no motion to suggest she wanted him to let go.

They only separated when they went to the different rooms for the boys and girls to chance. Elyse raised her eyebrows at Ursula but didn't say anything. Ursula ignored the look. Deciding that it was cool enough, Ursula decided to let her hair down, saving her time before she walked down the stairs to meet the boys minus James.

Everyone looked calm except Peter. He was nervously picking at his nails and he kept on moving around. Finally, Sirius couldn't take it any longer and snapped, "What is wrong with you Wormtail?"

"I forgot what the potion does," he admitted in a soft voice.

Ben snorted while Sirius looked at Peter in pure disbelief. "Really Wormy? After we've explained this a million times? Are you that much of a dunce or are you purposely trying to be stupid?"

Peter flinched at Sirius's harsh words. Ursula shot a glare at her twin before putting her hand on Peter's shoulder in a comforting way. Kindly, she explained, "The potion is designed to make sure we can stay as animals. The requirement to take it is that you've changed at least half you body at some point into your animal. Because our bodies are not chemically designed to undergo the stress of changing into another species naturally, this potion takes care of that for us. All we have to do is take the potion and work on transfiguring out entire body nonverbally, wandless, and simultaneously before the time limit runs out. James altered the potion so we have until about Christmas Holiday fifth year."

"That's about it," James said as he carried a serving dish with six smoking vials into the kitchen. He carefully placed it on the table. "This is it."

Ursula took a breath and looked at all them, thinking of all things that could go wrong for the people she cared about if this didn't work right. "Are you all sure you've finished the first steps? Because once you drink this there's no going back."

"Ursula, chill. We've already had partial transformations. Nothing could go wrong." Sirius said lazily.

"We can't take this lightly," Ben spoke up. "If we are caught, that's ten years in Azkaban for us. My dad can't get us out of this; he would probably lose his job if I'm caught along with the rest of you."

"Yeh's exaggeratin'," Elyse said.

"No, he's not," Ursula spoke up. "This is a serious offense in the eyes of the ministry. That's why if anyone wants to get out of this, then we won't think any less of you."

No one around the table moved.

James was the first one to reach for a vial. He held it up and with a serious look on his oddly mature face said, "To Moony."

The rest of them grabbed a vial and held it up in a toast, "To Moony," they chorused. Simultaneously, they gulped down the potion. At once, they all smiled triumphantly. They had done it; they were going to be animagi.

* * *

Remus Lupin was angry. No furious, livid, irate, enraged, and every other word that could possibly express his anger directed towards his friends. It all began around late afternoon. Remus was working on his summer homework when the phone rang. He heard his mother answer it and thought nothing of it until she walked into the room with the phone cradled against her chest.

"Remus, its Mrs. O'Brian. She wants to know if remembered to bring desert to the Potter's for James's Summer Bash? Apparently she forgot to give Elyse the lemon pie and she said she would make it up to us if we sent something extra. Do you have any idea what she is talking about?"

He shook his head, his heart breaking in pieces. They had said that it didn't matter to them that he was a werewolf and now they didn't include him? What else had he missed because they were just stringing him along? They didn't care. None of them did. It was all lies. Everything Ben said was just a cover story. They weren't trying to 'help' him or 'make it better'; no! They were plotting on getting rid of him.

Red hot rage like nothing before shot through his veins and he shot up from his seat, sending his books flying across the room. His mother rushed forward, "Remus, stop!" But her plea fell on deaf ears. He grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fireplace with much more force than necessary. He jumped in and shouted James's address.

After the spinning stopped, he stumbled out into the Potter's silent home. Remus's anger doubled when he saw James's Gryffindor jumper. Not seeing any sight of them in the living room, he went to the kitchen next. He froze when he saw the vials that still had a bit of smoke floating out from the top. Some of his anger dissipating, he cautiously reached out and grabbed one of them. Creating a small breeze with his hand, the smell filled his nostrils. His brows furrowed when he didn't recognize it.

"See you've figured out something was up," a drawling voice said from behind him. James was leaning heavily against the door frame but he was trying his best to show that he was fine. His face was slightly green and he started to sway on his feet.

Concern overpowered Remus's anger as he rushed forward to grab James's arm to keep him from falling, "What is wrong with you?" Remus demanded.

James smirked weakly, "Just a reaction to a potion we weren't expecting." Just then his eyes kind of glazed over and he stumbled towards the table, "I need to sit," he mumbled.

"What did you do to yourself?" Remus asked, scared that something was seriously wrong with James.

"Not just himself; all of us," Ben said as he and Ursula trudged into the kitchen. Both were leaning heavily on the other as they slowly worked their way to the table. Ursula was barely able to stand up straight and Ben was barely walking straight. Elyse joined them a moment later, "Wormy's still pukin'," She incoherently said. The last to join their group was Sirius who looked like he would hex you if you even looked at him wrong.

Remus looked around the five friends all in the same state disorientation and illness. Something had happened, something that had to do with him; he knew it had to be. Ben seemed to be able to still read him even in his current state, "You're right; it does have to do with your lycanthropy."

Remus's eyes widened and he jumped from the table, "I knew it! You've been trying to get rid of me for months now!"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius shouted, covering his ears with his hands. He dropped his head to the table as the headache pounded away in his head.

The werewolf continued at a much more reasonably volume, yet no less hurt voice, "I've noticed you all sneaking out at odd hours of the night, some of you have been disappearing at different times of the day, then the secretive looks. You've been trying to get rid of me haven't you? Can't stand the stigma of being associated with a werewolf? That's fine, just don't be cowards; say it to my face." He growled the last part.

Ursula looked like she was torn between hexing him and jumping across the table and slugging him across the face, "If I didn't feel like death," she muttered under her breath.

It was James that met Remus face on, his eyes serious and selfless, "That potion is known as _animalis humana_ or more commonly known as animagus potion." He explained.

Remus's jaw dropped to the ground as James continued, "We took the potion so we could become animagi so we can accompany you during the full moons to keep you company and to stop you from hurting yourself. This is the last step we needed to complete before we told you."

"What animals?" Remus asked in shock.

"I'm a stag, Elyse is a hare, Peter is a rat, Ben is a lion, and Ursula and Sirius are dogs. We figure that we'll be ready to go out with you by fifth year. That way even though we are animals and we should be safe, we should know enough magic by then if something goes wrong, we'll be able to handle it."

Remus wanted to be angry. He wanted to scream at James and the rest of them for going against his expressed wishes and doing this. He wanted to curse them all for being such bloody fools! They were being impulsive; they were risking too much. He wasn't worth ten years in Azkaban. Remus couldn't image any of them rotting away, losing their minds and phenomenal talents and skills in Azkaban. But looking at all their earnest eyes, he couldn't get angry at them because in those eyes were compassion, understanding, and love.

It was all too much for him. He broke down in sobs. Remus covered his face with his hands as he rested his elbows against his thighs. He felt a soft, small hand against his back, "Remus, are you really that upset that we did this?" Ursula asked softly.

He shook his head and was barely able to gather himself together to say, "I'm trying to figure out what the hell I had to do to deserve friends like you."

Ursula smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She pecked him on the cheek and said, "I ask myself the same exact thing every day."

* * *

_So there you have it; they are officially almost Animagi! Thanks for reading and please leave a review. I love hearing feedback from the readers because it helps me improve my writing. _


	5. Unlike Any Other Year

Hey guys! First off I would like to thank everyone for reading this story! The amount of views and reads astounds me (what also astounds me is that less than 10% of readers leave a review but that's cool; honest!) and it makes me feel goof inside knowing that so many people like my story.

This is a little on the shorter side but I just wanted to get this one out to you because a) I think I kind of owe a certain scene to all of you and b) I want to keep updates going at a consistent pace. I personally hate it when there is one chapter posted and then five weeks later the next chapter is posted. I forget the story or I lose interest and I don't want that to happen here. Anyway, I'm done rambling. Please enjoy this next chapter of A Black and White Story: Book 3

*9/13/12* it was just brought to my attention that I accidentally mixed up Helga's name with her daughter's. In my defense I was reading a book about Helen of Troy and then I was watching Deathly Hallows. The name was just stuck in my mind. Thanks anime-cheeky for pointing that out.

* * *

"_Are you sure about this James," A much older Mrs. Potter asked her son in a broken voice._

_James didn't seem hazed at question. He looked young but his eyes told a different story, "Mom, I'm sorry but I have to do this. Da—Dad would have wanted me to do this." He said, looking down at his clenched fists. _

_Mrs. Potter reached out while holding back tears, "I know, I know. It's just that Sirius, Remus, Peter, Ben, and –"_

"_We need to do this for her Mom. We can't let her die in vain." James said in a choked voice._

_A few tears escaped his eyes, "I understand. I wish you wouldn't but I want you to know how proud I am of you. I'm sure that if your father was around, he would be bursting with pride for you joining the Order of the Phoenix. But on the other hand, you know she would probably yell at you for doing something this dangerous and impulsive." She said, chuckling through her tears._

"_I know," James said with a sad smile on his face. "I know."_

"Elyse, wake up. We're almost to Hogwarts." Ursula said as she shook Elyse's shoulder gently.

The red head groaned as she was woken up. Her head was resting against the wall of the compartment right next to the window, allowing her to see that it was already dark. She jumped awake when she realized that the quick nap she had planned had turned into basically the whole trip.

"Woot teh 'ell? Why didn't yeh wake me oop earlier?" Elyse said groggily.

James shrugged, "We've been trying the last five minutes." He paused and looked at her oddly, "Why can't you look at me?" He asked when he noticed that her eyes were looking at everything and anything except him.

She shook her head, "No reason." It was obviously a lie but James decided not to push knowing that it probably had to do with a vision.

"So Lucky, what is this we hear about you dating a muggle?" Ben asked smugly.

James, Sirius, Peter, and Elyse all shouted, "WHAT?" At the same time. The boys looked shocked at Elyse while the said Irish girl glared at the only other girl in the compartment.

"Ursula! Why did yeh tell 'em?"

She held her hands up in defense, "I only told Ben and I told him not to tell the others."

At the same time this was occurring, James was interrogating Remus on his lack of reaction, "Why didn't you react Moony?"

"Ben told me," He said without even looking up from his book.

Ursula sighed exasperatedly, "Merlin Ben, when I say something is a secret, I mean you shouldn't go around telling people! You're worse than that Skeeter girl who writes for the Prophet."

"Either way, we should have known about this before King told us," James said.

Sirius nodded in agreement, "We need to approve of this bloke and make sure that he will treat you right."

Sensing an impending argument between Elyse and the two boys, Ursula tapped Ben on the shoulder, "Want to go somewhere else?" she whispered.

He nodded and went to stand up but caught sight of Remus in the corner, "What about Remus? We can't leave him alone when they are going at it like this." He pointed out.

Ursula did see his point. At that moment Elyse was yelling at James and Sirius that she was a good judge of character and that she had known Pat since they were children. But Remus seemed unaffected by the yelling and was calmly reading his book in the corner, occasionally turning the page.

"He's off in his own little world. He'll be fine."

Ben stood up and offered his hand for Ursula to take. Once she pulled herself up with Ben's assistance, the pair slipped out of the compartment. Walking down the Hogwarts Express was a challenge for one person but for two people to try to walk together and hold a conversation, it was almost impossible.

"How is your brother?" Ben asked after a moment.

Ursula paused midstep for a second to look back at him before continuing forward, "You were just sitting in a compartment with him for three hours," she said in a forced voice.

She tried walking away but Ben forcefully grabbed her upper arm and held her back. He was about to say something when a group of second years came barreling down on them. The pair barely jumped out of the way in time. Ben looked in the compartment closest to them. He opened the door and, still holding Ursula's arm, pulled her in behind him.

"Ben, people are in here…" Ursula tried to argue when she saw the bags and candy wrappers scattered around the small space.

He shook his head, "They aren't here now. You know I wasn't asking about Sirius. I was asking about Regulus."

Ursula rolled her eyes and sat down on the bench while folding her arms, "According to him he doesn't have a sister so I guess he's not my brother anymore. Besides, he is a little Snake."

Ben shook his head and sat down across from her, "You don't really believe that do you?"

"What else am I supposed to believe?! Huh? I'm sorry that I don't have the perfect sibling relationship that you and Annabelle have! I'm sorry that my family is so bloody messed up that my brother just stands by and does nothing when my mother curses Sirius and me!" Her voice cracked towards the end of her rant and her eyes widened when she realized that she had let slip.

Ben reached forward and grasped her hands, "What do you mean your mother curses you and Sirius?" He demanded, his normally warm and caring brown eyes now hard and unforgiving.

Ursula tried to pull her hands away, "It's nothing, really."

"Like hell it isn't!" Ben said forcefully. "No mother should ever lay a hand, or spell, on her children!"

"You think I don't know that?! After spending all this time with Mrs. Potter and seeing the rest of your moms dote on all of you while my mother wishes that I had never been born! Calls me a waste of space! Telling me that I'm lucky I was born! Because I wasn't supposed to be: did you know that? My mother went through all nine months of pregnancy thinking that she was having one large, strong baby boy. I was hiding behind Sirius the entire time so none of the healers ever realized I was there! I was unwanted from the second I was born!"

By this point, she was looking down at their intertwined hands. His hands were so warm, she noted. They were much larger than hers, encasing her small hands in the safety of his hands. He rubbed his thumb gently across the back on her hand.

There was silence in the compartment, her shouting just a distant echo.

"I don't think that you are a waste of space or unwanted. If you were unwanted, would Mrs. Potter put your name on your room? If you were unwanted, then why the hell am I sitting here right now?" He asked her softly, leaning forward slightly. "People want you Ursula. They _care_ about you. The guys would murder me if I told you this but half the fights we get in are because of you. We hear a person talking about you, usually blokes from other houses, and we fight back. All of us think that we are lucky to call ourselves your friend."

"Just friend?" The question slipped past Ursula's lips without her even realizing. She mentally berated herself for being so forward but she couldn't deny that she wanted to know the answer to the question.

Ben chuckled lightly, "Only some of us." He answered vaguely.

Ursula subconsciously leaned forward as she looked into his eyes, "And what about you?"

He leaned forward and they were almost nose to nose when he said, "I think you know the answer to that one."

Slowly, he started to move closer to her. Ursula's eyes fluttered closed as she felt his warm breath on her face. Just as she felt his nose gently brush against the side of hers, the compartment door slammed open. The pair jumped back to find Lily, Alice, Marlene, and third years Mary McDonald and Moira McGonagall. The five of them all had identical grins on their faces.

"Don't mind us; we'll just gather our stuff up so you can have some _privacy_," Lily said with a sly smile.

Still unable to get the deer in the headlights look out of their eyes, Ben and Ursula just nodded. They knew that they were caught red handed and there was no point in denying it. Still, Ben stood up and addressed his housemates, "I'm actually going to check up on the others. To make sure they haven't driven Remus to jump out the window. I'll see you in the carriages?" Ben asked Ursula.

It was Marlene who answered for her, "Oh, she'll definitely meet you at the carriages."

Ben turned back to Ursula, who was mouthing, 'please don't leave me,' to him but his lips twitched into a smirk for just a second before be bade everyone goodbye and left the compartment.

"I hate you all," Ursula muttered.

Alice flounced in and sat down on Ursula lap, "We love you to, Ursula!" She said happily. She loudly kissed Ursula on the cheek, laughing the entire time, before sliding off her lap and onto the floor of the compartment.

Ursula wiped off her cheek while rolling her eyes, "Merlin help me," she begged looking up at the ceiling.

"Not even Merlin could save you now," Moira pointed out, giving her a look that looked _way_ too much like her aunt for Ursula's comfort.

The train came to a stop minutes later. Ursula quickly escaped from Lily and the rest to find her friends. She was running down the sides of the carriages looking for her friends, but they seemed to have disappeared. She still hadn't found them when they started to slowly gain speed. Suddenly the door in front of her opened and multiple hands shot out. Ursula latched onto the closest one and jumped.

Hands wrapped around her arms and one set was around her waist as they pulled her into the carriage. The tops of her ears turned red when she saw it was Ben's arms around her waist. But just as quickly as they were on, they were off and she was free to roam around the carriage to find a seat.

"Thanks for that." Ursula said. "It would have been nice for you to wait for me."

"Wait for you!? We bloody stood outside the door for fifteen minutes while we waited for you! You were the one running late," James accused.

Ursula rolled her eyes, "I was spending some time with your 'Lily-Love' so don't you dare blame me."

At the mention of Lily's name, James got a dazed and love struck look on his face. Remus rolled his eyes, "There you go. Mention his name and he's off in Lily-land."

"And what a wonderful place that is," James said dreamily.

Minutes later, they pulled up to the school and filed into the Great Hall. Ursula breathed in a sigh of contentment when she sat down at the familiar Gryffindor table. Elyse sat on her right and Sirius on her left while the other four sat on the other side of the table.

"Ready for tonight?" James asked the group. He pulled out his wand and started spinning it around his fingers.

Ben rolled his eyes, "Seriously, mate? We've just been able to—"

"Able to what?" A voice asked behind him.

All four boys jumped as Lily questioned them. James turned and smiled debonairly at Lily, "Why hello Lily-Love. May I say that you look especially ravishing this evening."

She gave him an unamused look before she looked back at Ben, "What were you talking about doing?"

"We were able to raise Peter's grades last year from a Poor to an Exceeds Expectations in Charms last year," Ben quickly lied.

Lily bought the lie and smiled brightly at Peter, "That's wonderful Pete! I always knew that you had a knack for Charms if you just applied yourself!"

The doors opened and McGonagall lead the terrified first years in. After a brisk goodbye, Lily moved farther down the table to sit with her friends. Ursula noticed something odd about this batch of first years as they walked past. First of all, some were drenched with water while some looked like they got splattered with paint. Also, they were looking terrified at the tables, especially at James and Sirius.

"What happened?"

The boys and Elyse shared smirks while Remus calmly explained, "James told the first years right before they got on the boat that the Giant Squid takes a sacrifice each year and he picks by smelling the fear in your blood. I guess a few fell in the water."

"And the paint?" Ursula asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius smirked wider. Everyone in the Great Hall got quiet as they waited for the hat to begin his song. So Sirius leaned towards his sister and quickly explained in a whisper, "We gave Peeves some balloons filled with different colored paints to drop on them as they walked in. He was oddly compliant."

Ursula had to hide her snigger with her hands. Just then the Sorting Hat opened its house and began its yearly song.

_A thousand years ago there were four fabulous friends,_

_None were closer than Godric, Salazar, Rowena, and Helena;_

_But then their times came to pass _

_And they all left to their own personal nirvana._

_Before they were gone however,_

_All four gathered together to decide_

_How to sort their students _

_So I was created, more than happy to abide._

_There is no doubt in my mind_

_(Yes, I am more than a hat on a stool)_

_That they would all be disgusted at what has become _

_Of their beloved school._

_The houses have turned against each other_

_Working for their own gain_

_Showing off their worst qualities_

_As they ignore others pain._

_Helga wanted the loyal, honorable, and caring_

_And I have sorted by her wishes_

_But now the house is now idly standing by_

_Ignoring all the problems of the ages_

_For Rowena wanted those with wit and intelligence_

_To change the world with their superior ability_

_Yet now haughtiness and coldness runs rampant_

_And the house seems to have lost all sensibility._

_Salazar was a challenging man on his own_

_Yet I never thought his house would stoop so low_

_That even he would be disgusted _

_By the cruelty of this show_

_No doubt Godric would be most offended,_

_The honor and brave all but gone_

_Only replaced by the cocky and arrogant_

_As intended knights have fallen to mere pawns._

_I cautioned last year_

_But you did not heed my warning._

_You felt that you were wiser and smarter,_

_Or maybe you thought the song was simply boring._

_This is not something that can be ignored._

_The frolic and joy you all adore_

_Will be ripped right from your grasps_

_As you are faced with what is in store._

_Do not disregard this message:_

_Darkness is brewing._

_Hate is rampant._

_Evil is killing._

_It is past the point of no return_

_The war has started, be forewarned_

_You classmates and family have fought_

_And their deaths and sacrifices are not to be scorned._

_Honor your values_

_Believe in what is right;_

_Take us out of this darkness_

_And into the light._

_Unite together and build off each other_

_For we must reunite within_

_Before we can be saved_

_Now let the sorting begin!_

There was dead silence in the Great Hall. The teachers too were shocked by the Hat's song. The only one that seemed mildly unsurprised was unsurprisingly Dumbledore. The seven teens at the Gryffindor table shared a look with each other.

James just rolled his eyes, "Stupid Hat." He muttered. "I'll show it cocky and arrogant."

There was a slightly pattering of applause right before McGonagall cleared her throat and called the first name. Hufflepuff cheered loudly when they received their first new student moments later.

But at the Gryffindor table, Ben couldn't shake the hat's song away like James and Sirius had. Both boys seemed completely undeterred by the words spoken by the hat that was probably wiser than Dumbledore. That wasn't the only thing that bothered him. No, he was thinking of everything that he had learned about what was really going on in the world from Gideon and Annabelle. He thought of all his father had warned about the past summer. Recalling Annabelle's commitment to the Order, he felt sudden fear for his sister's and her child's life like he never had before.

A gently nudge to his leg made him jump slightly. He looked up and saw Ursula looking at him with concerned eyes. 'Are you okay?' she mouthed to him.

Not knowing how to really respond, Ben just looked at her with a blank face. He only looked away when the hat screamed "GRYFFINDOR!" for the first time that night. Like his classmates, he stood up and applauded his new housemate, a boy named Allen Bones.

The rest of the night seemed to feel heavy for some reason. The food wasn't as good, the conversations weren't as lively, the joy of turning all the first years' hands into claws, lion paws, badger paws, or covering the hands with green, slimy scales didn't bring Ben out of his down mood. All he could think about was the Sorting Hat's warning. The war wasn't over. Hell, it hadn't even begun.

* * *

_Just a quick p.s. _

_Like the Sorting Song? As I said in the last book, I love writing the songs. They take forever (that is part of the reason this chapter took a while) but they are so fun to write._

_p.p.s: please review. Please?_


	6. Match Made in the Future

"So what's going to be on about this Defense professor?" Sirius pondered out loud a few days after the sorting. He was lounging on the sofa in front of the fire with his head on his sister's legs. She was leaning against Remus who was explaining some random Goblin battle to Peter who was one mistaken fact from crying. In front of them were James and Ben playing an intense game of wizard's chess. Elyse was sitting next to the side of the board, watching the game intently.

Elyse looked up from the intense game (both boys were brilliant at chess and often ended up at an impasse) and asked, "Woot do yeh mean?"

Sirius shrugged, "Think about it, we had pretty boy Hesleden who got mauled by a werewolf. Then we had a bloody Death Eater teach us. Last year Professor Clarke had to leave because of death threats against her werewolf sister. See a pattern here?"

"We get a new defense teacher each year?" Peter said uncertainly.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "No, Wormtail, we obviously get the same teacher each year. Bloody hell," Sirius said sarcastically to Ursula, "How thick can he be?"

She swatted at his head but he moved and ended up rolling off the couch. Sirius made no move to get up and instead, while laughing, moved to watch the chess game. Ben turned from the chess game and faced Peter, "To answer your question, yes Pete, we've had a new teacher each year. Annabelle mentioned that she also had seven different teachers; reckons the job's cursed."

"That's what I'm saying! What do you think is going to happen to this one? Vampire? Half-mermaid? Oi! Maybe we'll get lucky this year and get a veela," Sirius pondered.

Before anything more could be said about the speculation of their new teacher, Lily appeared at the edge of the group with an envelope in her hand. "Elyse, an owl just delivered this in our dorm. It has your name on it." She said.

Elyse stood up and grabbed the parchment. She looked confused at the envelope and tore it open. When she saw who it was from, a wide, dazzlingly happy smile graced her lips. Off in her own little world, Elyse settled back on the couch and read the letter.

Lily then turned her attention to the other girl, "Ursula, I was wondering if you could help me with the transfiguration homework later. I can turn the box into a flower but I can't change it back all the way. It is infuriating." Lily grumbled, upset at not being able to get the spell right. Nodding, Ursula said, "No problem Lil. It's probably just a wand movement thing."

"I would be more than happy to help you, my love. My brilliance in transfiguration would undoubtedly rub off on you." James said cockily when he looked up from the chess game.

Lily grimaced and fake gagged, "I don't want any part of you to rub off on me Potter."

"You would love that, Evans. Don't try to deny it."

Her glare was harsh, "Honestly, you are so inconsiderate I have half a mind to get Severus to hex you." She threatened.

The effect was not the one she expected. James just snorted and laughed arrogantly, "You think that greasy-monkey Snivellus scares me?! All I have to do is throw a shampoo bottle at him and he runs away crying."

"You inconsiderate twit! You're just jealous of him!" Lily accused, her glare burning a hole in James's head.

At that accusation, James lost his cool demeanor and stood up abruptly, knocking over the chess board, to match Lily's glare. He took a step forward and Ursula saw her friend's foot twitch to step backwards. Lily didn't want to show it but her cool and confident composure broke just the slightest bit at James's domineering, scathing look. His nostrils flared and his face flushed red from anger none of his friends didn't know the usually easy-going, yet cocky boy possessed.

"Don't you dare," he said in an irate voice, "_ever_ compare me to that Dark Art loving, bastard. Are we clear?"

Ursula had to give Lily credit, she meet James's eyes in intensity, "Hell no! You always talk like he is below you yet you claim that you don't care about blood! You are the bigoted one!" Lily shouted at him.

James laughed humorlessly, "You think that I care about blood!? I'm best mates with members of the BLACK family; you know, Bellatrix's and Narcissa's cousins? Regulus's siblings? Their family is ten times darker than any bull shit sob story Snivellus told you! It's an 'effing miracle that those two are standing in this room and I never judged them because of their family," He growled.

"Well, I apologize!" Lily shouted sarcastically as she threw her hands up in the air, "All hail Saint Potter who is perfect and can do no wrong because he befriended two kids who have meanies for parents! Because Ursula and Sirius are saints too; they've never hexed a first year without cause before!"

Sirius shouted out indignantly while Ursula looked taken aback. She never expected Lily to snap like that and for her friend to say something like that…

James immediately jumped to the defense of his friends, "Don't bring my friends into this, Evans. Just because you are a crap friend doesn't mean I am."

"ME!? A CRAP FRIEND!? How dare you!" She shouted at him, pulling her wand out of her pocket and brandishing it threateningly towards James. "You are your friends strut around this school like a bunch of arrogant pigs, and you get away with it because you're all 'funny' and 'creative' and 'intelligent'! You're just a bunch of bullies with this whole school under your manipulative charm!"

"Evans, open your bloody eyes! Snivellus has been brain washing you! Listen to yourself; you sound like a damn Slytherin," James practically bellowed.

"Better a Slytherin than a Gryffindor if you are what 'true' Gryffindors are," she shot back with a sharp tongue.

James was positively fuming at that point. Peter was cowering into the sofa, trying to meld into the cushions while Remus awkwardly sat on the sofa and tried to read his book, avoiding the confrontation. Sirius looked ready to jump in and defend his friend. Still sitting in her chair, Elyse had put her letter down and was trying to mentally communicate with the fighting pair that they needed to stop. She could see that Ursula was extremely hurt even though she was trying her best to hide it. Elyse was about to say something when James and Lily started yelling at each other again.

"Nice to know where your loyalty lie, Evans," James hissed. "Just like Snivellus, cold and heartless."

"JAMES POTTER—"Lily shouted but Elyse didn't hear the rest of the sentence before she was pulled into a vision.

"_JAMES POTTER!" A much older Lily Evans shouted. She was standing in front of a demolished book case, tapping her foot with her arms crossed. She was still in her Hogwarts robe and there was a Head Girl badge pinned to the front of her robes. Her robes were in perfect order, as were her tie, her shoes, and her hair._

_There was no mistaking the boy meandering around the corner. His hands were in the pockets of his open robes, revealing his muggle clothes under them. His hair was just, if not more, unruly as it had been when he was fourteen. Time had done him well, his features distinctly sharp while remaining soft. His glasses were lopsided but he didn't seem disturbed by that fact._

"_You called, Lily," He said in a debonair way._

_She simply raised her eyebrow and pointed to the pile of wood and books that were scattered around the hallway. James rolled his eyes and with a flick of his wand and some nonverbal magic, the bookshelf was whole and the books were neatly stacked back up. _

"_James, you're supposed to be setting an example! Not blowing up bookcases!" she scolded him but Elyse was surprised to hear none of the usual malice and dislike it usually held. It was more…affectionate?_

_He chuckled and shrugged, his robes moving just enough to reveal the Head Boy badge and Quidditch Captain pins he had on his robes. He walked forward and wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and to Elyse's complete shock, Lily leaned into the embrace._

"_If I didn't bring a little laughter and mischief to this school, it would get mighty depressing real fast, don't cha think?"_

_Lily smiled snuggled closer into James's broad chest. He tightened his arms around her and he placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. Lily sighed contently and smiled, "I don't mind the mischief; that's one of the reasons I love you. Just—"_

"_Leave the books out of it," James finished her sentence with a teasing smirk. Lily tried to look stern but it seemed like it was impossible for her. Instead, she practically melted into James's embrace._

_They stood in silence for a good minute before a sound down the hallway caused them to jump apart. James pulled his wand out of his pocket and shielded Lily behind him. _

"_The map's in my back pocket. Check it." He whispered ordered her._

_She reached forward and pulled out a piece of folded up, slightly worn parchment. She tapped the parchment with her wand while muttering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," before flipping through the folds. "It's just Alice's cat." She said after a moment._

_Sure enough, just as she said that, a cat walked around the corner, meowed, and continued on its way. The pair standing alone in the hallway shared a look and James stepped towards her, "You know, Lily, no one is here."_

"_I've noticed," she replied dryly._

_He continued on as if she never said anything. He just took another step forward and gently placed his finger under her chin to lift her face towards his, "There's almost no chance of getting caught." He said seductively. He slowly laid gently kisses all over her face; her cheeks, forehead, eyelids, nose, but never her mouth. It seemed like Lily was having a hard time gathering her thoughts._

"_Almost no chance?" she questioned and an airy voice._

_James leaned back for just a second with a smirk on his face, "What kind of Marauder would I be if there wasn't any risk?"_

_He didn't let her respond. He cupped her face and was just about to kiss her on the lips when Lily abruptly shoved him back. James stumbled back, looking hurt and confused. Lily just smirked and sauntered towards him and grabbed his tie, "What kind of Head Girl would I be if I didn't find us a broom closet?" She questioned as she dragged him forward. James laughed and quickly pulled her towards him and kissed her on the lips, "I knew there was a reason I feel in love with you."_

"_It wasn't the beauty or the charm?" She playfully asked before she pulled him into the broom closet. _

_Just before the door closed, James said, "Well, those were deciding factors." _

_She giggled and captured his lips with hers as the door closed behind them._

"That's enough!" Benjamin roared.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at Ben. His face was void of humor and his voice was commanding and strong. He looked at Lily with a blank expression and watched as the anger and fury disappeared from her eyes. Without a word, she turned and disappeared up the girls' staircase.

Elyse looked over to Remus, "Woot'd I miss?" She questioned.

He just shrugged, "James said something stupid, Lily took the bait, they exchanged words, Lily accidentally said something about Ursula and Sirius, Ben jumped in to defend Ursula, Lily stormed out."

"So nothin' oot of the norm?"

"Nope," Remus said, popping the 'p' sound as he turned a page in his book.

Resettling back into the arm chair, Elyse pulled out her letter from Pat and started to read what has been happening in Kiltimagh according to her boyfriend.

The next morning, all the Fourth Years assembled in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The desks were set up in fours this year, something that had changed from last year. Looking around the room after Ursula sat down at a table with James, Sirius, and Ben; she looked around the mostly barren room. She longed for the bright posters that Clarke decorated the room in. This was just too cold.

The door opened and all the students settled down as the new professor walked in. Ben vaguely remembered hearing his name announced at the beginning of the year feast but at that moment, it was lost on him. He was on the younger side, maybe around his mid thirties. His head was covered in shock of black hair and he had a dark five o'clock shadow.

"Good morning students," he said in slightly accented English, "My name is Anacleto Katsopolis and I am going to be your Defense professor this year."

Katsopolis. The name struck a chord in Ben's mind. He felt like he should know that name; he knew for a fact he had heard it before. But where? His question was soon answered when the professor continued talking.

"I am not from England. I was born in Greece and attended and now teach school there. I am here on a favor for your Headmaster; one year and then I'm back to Greece."

It bothered Ben that he couldn't remember him. He knew that they had probably met before but for what and when? It was on the tip of his tongue when Ursula subtly nudged his arm, "What's wrong?" She whispered.

"I know him, I just don't know how." He answered.

Ursula didn't have a chance to respond when Katsopolis started roll call. There were no hiccups until he got the Ben's name.

"White, Benjamin, any relationship to Minister White?" He question.

Ben flushed under the scrutinizing eyes of his year mates but nodded all the same, "He's my father."

The new professor nodded and smiled slightly, "I thought so. The last time I saw you, you were a little tyke running around with the violin." Noticing the look of confusion on not just Ben's face but the entire classes (minus the smirks James, Sirius, and Remus had picturing their friend as a toddler playing his violin), he elaborated, "My father is Minister for Magic in Greece; Aleksander Katsopolis."

It all clicked together in Ben's mind. In the back of his mind, he remembered the dark skinned teen that stuck out at his father's parties. Ever the Minister's son, Ben responded almost automatically, "Send my regards to your father."

"I will. You'll do the same, I presume?"

Once Ben nodded, Katsopolis nodded once and walked over to the chalk board, "Your fourth year is going to be vitally important for your future. From what I understand, you have a basic knowledge of defense against small magical creatures, larger creatures, and basic curses. This will not be a surprise for some of you, but there are much darker curses out there. The most basic classification of a dark curse originates—"

The lesson continued on as such a pace that left even the most intelligent students frantically scribbling notes. It was blatantly clear; their new teacher knew his stuff. They all walked out in awe after the lesson, shocked that someone knew so much and could articulate it without people getting lost or confused, astounded them.

Later that night at dinner, they were all sitting together when Sean Wood walked over and put his hands on James's and Ursula's shoulders, "Hey you two, try outs are going to be next week and I want to leave you two in charge of finding our third chaser."

"Aren't you Captain though?" Ursula asked confused.

Sean nodded, "I may be captain but I can only see so much during try outs. We need a third chaser to replace Jake and I want it to be somebody that you two can work with. If you don't have a natural connection, then there is no hope for us. I'll be running the seeker and beater try outs when that's happening. Sound good? Wonderful," without even waiting for their response, Sean continued on his way.

James was practically bristling with pride, "Here that! Like we're the co captains," he boasted.

Ursula rolled her eyes as she buttered a dinner roll, "Don't let it go to your head too much; there's not much room for expansion." She jibbed. Then she turned towards her friends, "Are any of you interested in playing chaser?"

"I'm more of a keeper," Ben responded.

Remus adamantly shook his head, "There might be a game around the full moon and I don't want to be the weakest player on the team."

Ursula nodded, accepting that answer. At that moment, Sirius and James broke into a loud argument over whether Sirius would make a better beater or chaser and it seemed like James was winning his argument (beater) based off the triumphant look on his face.

Ignoring their antics, Ursula turned towards the two that hadn't responded yet, "What about you two? You're both brilliant flyers from what I remember."

Peter shook his head, "My mom doesn't want me playing for the house team. Apparently my dad played and almost died; she doesn't want to same thing happening to me," he said dejectedly.

She smiled comfortingly at him, "Cheer up mate, at least your mother isn't wishing for your eminent death. So what about you Elyse? Want to join James and me on the Quidditch team."

Elyse shifted awkwardly on the bench, "Yeh see, I do but not fer chaser. I want ter be teh seeker."

Ursula's face lit up with excitement, "That's brilliant! You have good eyes for that; remember first year when you saw the snitch before the seekers did? That was wicked."

The two girls feel into discussion about the Quidditch team. Ben just sat back and munched on some grapes as he watched his friends. James and Sirius were now plotting a prank against a sixth year Ravenclaw that did something or another to James last year. The thought of Ravenclaw reminded him of Professor Flitwick, and jogged his memory that he needed to come up with an original composition for a solo concert at the end of the year. After vowing to go straight up to his room after dinner and after writing a letter to Annabelle, he resolved to practice his violin.

On his other side, Remus was helping Peter with transfiguration homework. The poor boy was so confused and turned around that Ben seriously thought it was a bad idea to try to get Peter to turn into an animagus. Then again, he had surprised everyone in Charms so maybe this year would be the year for transfiguration.

Watching his friends interact, he could help but think that the Sorting Hat was dead wrong about his predictions. Ben could tell everything was going to be fine.

* * *

_I want to apologize about the gap in time! I was just so swamped with school stuff (two full length novels, four band performances, two papers, and class starting at 7 a.m.) that I was literally going on just a few hours of sleep a night. That and I had a small case of writers block. But that is gone and the next chapter is mentally planned out already. I should have it up by next Tuesday but more realistically, it will be Wednesday or Thursday._

_I would love to hear back from you guys! I love reading the comments you leave. If you have a favorite part, character, scene, or you just have a general comment, feel free to leave it in that conveniently placed box._

_Last thing, I think I am going to change this to go under the Marauder Category so if you start searching for it under Sirius/OC or just Sirius, then this will be gone. I just feel like that is going to be a clearer sub category for this story._

_That is all! Have a wonderful week and don't forget to review!_


	7. Planting the Seed

The room was an absolute mess. If Peter, the notoriously messy one, walked in even he would think it was a mess. Crumpled up pieces of parchment lay scattered all around the room. The sole person responsible for the mess was the least likely to be suspected. He sat on his bed, hunched over a piece of parchment as he hummed to the quill that recorded his every note. Every minute or so, he would stop humming, look at what he wrote, and crumple it up and throw it towards the walls.

Ben had thought the assignment would be easy. Professor Flitwick had told him that he honestly didn't expect anyone under sixth year to be able to write their own written piece and perform it by the end of the year but Ben had wanted to prove him wrong. He had given up going to see Elyse try out for Quidditch to work on it thinking that he would be able to focus in the quite of his room. It was to no avail.

All he could think about was all the fun he was missing, mainly all the time he was missing spending with Ursula.

With that thought, all his concentration was broken and yet another piece of parchment hit the wall. Ben fell back against his pillows and just laid there, "Why the hell can't I do this?" He whispered to himself.

The silence seemed to be mocking him. He couldn't do it because of the unanswered question he sent Annabelle. How were two people supposed to go from being close friends to dating? He could admit that he fancied her to their friends and he had all but screamed it from the top of the Astronomy Tower yet neither of them was able to make the next step. That was why he owled Annabelle. She had started dating one of her best friends so she would be the one to know how to deal with this. If only she was in school with him.

Just then, Ben heard someone walking up the stairs. He knew his roommates were planning on going to map out the Shrieking Shack after try outs so he counted on at least two more hours of silence.

"Wotcher, Ben." Ursula said loudly as she marched in unannounced. He sat up and raised his eyebrows as he took in her appearance.

Her hair was wilder than James's after a broom race. Her clothes were sweaty and dirty and she had a streak of dirt across her cheek. Beads of sweat were still trickling down her forehead and she was slightly panting. In her hand was a bundle of clothes and towel.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked, his voice cracking on the last word. She looked like a complete mess but he thought she looked beautiful.

She shrugged, "Had to go somewhere."

"Where are the others?"

Ursula placed her stuff on her brother's bed and sat down, "Sirius is currently racing James on my broom, Remus and Peter went to the library because Peter failed the potions paper earlier today, and Elyse tripped me at the pitch and ran back to the castle to get the shower first. I grabbed my stuff and—damn it, I forgot a shirt. Ben, do you have a jumper I could borrow?"

He nodded and quickly grabbed the first clean jumper he saw. Ursula grabbed the offered piece of clothing with a smile of thanks before she ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Ben waited until he heard the water start to fall backwards on the bed. "Bloody hell," he muttered to himself for the second time that day but for a completely different reason than the first. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this one sane.

It was almost thirty minutes later when Ursula walked out of the bathroom. Her hair was now pulled back into a ponytail and all the dirt was gone. She was wearing black leggings and his large Gryffindor jumper that went to mid thigh on her and was hanging off one of her shoulders it was so large. He noticed, however, a scratch on her shoulder that disappeared under the red yarn.

"What happened to your neck?" He questioned.

She reached up and gently touched her neck, just centimeters away from the scratch. She shrugged as she sat down cross-legged on his bed. "What'd you have there?" She asked as she leaned forward to look at the parchment.

Ben just shrugged and gathered them together, "Nothing much. Just something for Flitwick."

"No, don't be vague. I want to know. What is it?" She demanded as she snatched the papers out of his hand.

He had to laugh at the concentration on her face as she tried to interpret what she was looking at. Chuckling, he pulled the parchment a little closer to him so he could see which one she was looking at. When he saw it, he cringed when the notes played out in his head. Shaking his head, he let it go. "Professor Flitwick wanted to challenge the sixth and seventh years to try to write their own compositions. I wanted to prove that I could do it but as you can see," he gestured around the room, "it turns out it is much harder than I anticipated."

Ursula handed the papers back to him, "What do you think the problem is? You're the most creative, musical person I know."

He just shrugged, "I just haven't found my inspiration yet." He admitted.

She cocked her head to the side so he elaborated, noting how cute she looked when she was confused, "You just can't sit down and write something; music isn't that simple. It requires emotion, feeling, passion. If you don't have those three things then, well, you aren't going to write anything worthwhile."

"You just need to find your voice." She said as she flipped through the papers.

"Basically." He agreed.

When she stopped looking through his rough drafts she looked up and for a moment their eyes met and nothing was said. He was drawn into the pale eyes that contrasted so greatly with his own dark brown. Her eyes glimmered with a warm glow and Ben felt something stirring in his chest.

Just then, a loud grumbling broke the silence. Ursula turned red and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Ben smirked, "Hungry?"

"Nah, my stomach just decided to try to inspire you with its serenading." She responded sarcastically.

Ben rolled his eyes and got up. He offered his hand to Ursula, "Let's go to the kitchens."

"You are a wonderful person, my dear Benjamin." She said as she got to her feet. She let go of his hand and stretched towards the ceiling. She twisted around for a second to stretch out a sore muscle in her back before grabbed Ben's hand once more and leading him out of the room and down the stairs.

They were walking down the hallway in silence before Ben decided to asked, "So how did tryouts go? Or am I not allowed to know since I'm not on the team? I might be a Slytherin spy; you wouldn't want me to know too much information." He said sarcastically.

Ursula laughed, "Because I keep so much from you already."

"Yes, you my friend are an enigma."

She rolled her eyes but swung their conjoined hands back and forth a little bit, "James and I think that we found our third chaser. It was really rough at first. You know the sixth year, Jordan Carmichael? He thought he was the best thing since the Earth began moving around the sun. We already have James's ego, we can't deal with a competing one. But the last person who tried out was Moira McGonagall. She was bloody amazing."

"McGonagall's niece?" Ben asked, slightly surprised.

Ursula nodded, "She has some mad skill. Both James and I were impressed how well she worked with us. She took criticism well and tried to fix what we said. She's no Jacob but she definitely has the potential."

"What about Elyse? How did she do?" He asked as they walked around the corner. He nodded at a fifth year Ravenclaw he studied with sometimes when they walked past. The other student raised his eyebrows at Ben holding Ursula's hand but didn't say anything. He did however give Ben discreet thumbs up.

Thankfully, she didn't notice and Ursula shook her head in awe when thinking back to the tryouts, "She was bloody amazing. There was no contest. Sean was saying after tryouts that she is better than Clara was when she started out. He bets that she'll be better than Clara in two years, if not by the end of this year."

"Wow. That's amazing. How fast did she find the snitch?"

He never got an answer to his question. At that moment a lone Slytherin happened to turn around a corner and approach the couple.

"Ursula. White." Regulus addressed them. It was impossible to not hear the slight sneer in his voice.

Almost immediately let go of Ben's hand. "What do you want Regulus?" She asked.

Regulus ignored his sister's inquiry and cocked his head to the side appraisingly when he looked at Ben. "The Minister for Magic's son, I almost didn't believe the rumors, Ursula. But now I've got eyewitness proof."

She glared at her brother. Without breaking eye contact she said to Ben, "I'll meet up with you later. Give me some time alone with my brother."

Not wanting to leave Ursula alone with the Slytherin, Ben had to submit to her wishes knowing that she would use everything in her power to get him out. He continued onto the kitchen, worry eating away at his stomach.

"What do you want, Reg?" Ursula repeated once Ben was out of earshot.

He just chuckled, "I'm surprised at you Ursula. I always thought you were the smarter of my siblings. I guess I was wrong."

Ursula was lost on what he was saying, "What?"

Regulus shrugged and leaned against the wall, "You and the Minister of Magic's son? I honestly didn't believe the rumors but then I see it with my own two eyes and I don't even truly believe it now. Are you that stupid?" He asked scathingly.

"Listen up, there is nothing going on between Ben and I right now—"

"Oh but you wish there was something. You were always easy to read, weak and susceptible. The only reason you haven't gone farther with White is because you know the repercussions."

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?!" Ursula shouted at him, losing her temper at his vague and confusing comments.

He sighed and pushed himself off the wall, "Are you bloody daft? You must be associating with too many mudbloods."

"REGULUS!" Ursula shouted, "Don't' you dare say that word!" She brandished her wand and pointed it directly at his face. He just raised an eyebrow and calmly pushed the wand out of his face.

"Either way, dear sister, it has come to my attention that you have some stupid idea that you fancy the Minister's son. That is just ludicrous."

Ursula instantly went on the defensive, "Who I fancy is none of your business! Why does it matter to you anyway?"

He shrugged, "It doesn't. I thought it should just be fair to you for you know that it will never work. A White and Black together? It doesn't work like that. And if you think that White's father can help you through the fall out, then you have another thing coming. The Minister's days are numbered, mark my words."

"Is that a threat?" She demanded.

"Let's call it a prediction. But even if the Minster stays in for another fifty years, you and White will never work. Wizards and witches alike would never accept a White dating a Black; it's just not done. Besides, you act like you actually deserve him. Albeit, he is a pureblood so you have that going for you, but other than that, Mother and Father would never approve of him."

"You're wrong." She said in a shaky voice, "I have met both of his parents and they have yet to have a problem with me. His sister and I exchange letters every once in a while now. And if there is one person I know in this school it is Ben. Anyway, when have I ever cared about what Mother and Father approve of? In case you haven't noticed, I got sorted into Gryffindor. Not weak, pathetic Slytherin."

Regulus shook his head, "You are the wrong one. You honestly think that everyone has forgotten where you come from? I know for a fact that the majority of this school hasn't."

"The rest of the school doesn't matter because unlike you, I don't care about what stupid people think of me. My friends and their families know who I am; that is good enough for me." Ursula asserted confidently.

"But how do you know that is good enough for them? Do you really think that White likes you because 'you have a sparkling personality' or you're a pretty face? He fancies you because you're the shiniest toy that he can play with and throw off to the side once he decides to look for a real girlfriend." Regulus sneered.

Ursula's face was slowly turning red from anger. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from hexing her brother, "You're wrong," she said in a choked voice.

Regulus shook his head and smirked triumphantly, "If you truly believed that then you wouldn't still be standing here listening to this."

Pushed over her breaking point, Ursula shot back, "And you know what? If you truly didn't doubt Mother and Father's ideals, then you wouldn't be standing here talking to your blood traitor sister."

She walked forward with her head held high and purposely bumped her shoulder into her brother's. He grabbed her shoulder after she was a few paces behind him and spun her around to face him. "Nice jumper," he said mockingly with an air of superiority. But that isn't what Ursula noted. She noted the doubt and fear in her brother's eyes. It looked like someone had just found out his deepest and darkest secret that was never supposed to be revealed.

Inwardly smiling, she nodded to her brother in thanks, "I'll see you later, Reg."

With that he let go of her arm and turned and quickly left the hallway, disappearing down the staircase to the dungeons. Ursula took a moment to gather herself before walking back towards the kitchen. As much as she hated it, her brother's voice just kept on repeating in her head. When she finally stepped into the kitchen after tickling the pear, she had more than enough time to hide what had just happened.

Ben looked up concerned when he heard the door open. He stood up and pulled a seat out for her to sit, "What happened between you and Regulus?" he inquired.

She just shrugged and took a different seat than the one he pulled out for her. "Nothing much. The usual." She vaguely explained. All she could hear going through her head was her brother's voice_, A White and Black together? It doesn't work like that. _

They sat in silence for five minutes as Ben tried to figure out what had happened in the short window they had been separated. She had just walked down the hallway holding hands with him and here she was unable to look him in the eye.

Finally, Ben broke the silence by saying, "Annabelle sent me an owl earlier this morning. She is going to be at the Three Broomsticks during our first Hogsmeade Weekend."

"That's nice," Ursula said absent mindedly.

"Well I was wondering if you would like to join us."

_Wizards and witches alike would never accept a White dating a Black; it's just not done._

Ursula shook her head, "No, I wouldn't want to intrude on your sibling time."

"You wouldn't be intrud—"

"I said no." she said forcefully as she stood up quickly. So quickly in fact that she knocked over her chair. She turned and practically sprinted towards the exit and ran out of the kitchen. Ben sat in shock a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Ursula could be a little unpredictable at times but even this was odd for her.

A house elf ran over and picked up the chair. Ben recognized her as Mitzi, the house elf Ursula had saved from Bellatrix.

"Is miss alright? Miss Ursula liked the food, Mitzi wonders. Mitzi is worried about her."

Ben looked down at the tiny elf that was looking up at him with big, sad, worried eyes. He sighed and looked up at the entrance.

"Me too Mitzi. Me too."

* * *

_I am sorry about the delay. I would love to be able to put up about two chapters a week but school is just so busy right now with AP classes, marching band, extra curricular activities, and getting together college applications that I am just going say right now that more than likely I am always going to update on Friday or if it is an especially busy week, sometime over the weekend. I am a bit sorry too that the chapter is a little on the shorter side but I am hoping that the next one will be a bit longer._

_Please leave a review. I loved all of the reviews last week. I think I responded to all six of the reviewers but if I accidentally missed you, I am so sorry and I'll try to catch everyone this week. We got six last time, let's go for seven for this chapter? Either way, I love you all for just reading it. _


	8. Everybody Talks

_You asked, therefore I delivered. That's all I'm going to say._

* * *

The leaves crunched under Benjamin's hurried feet as he quickly pushed through the crowd of excited third years. There was a chill in the air and a particularly brisk breeze forced Ben to adjust the collar of his tan wool trench coat. He was running ridiculously late to meet his sister. He had learned from the few months of living with her over the summer that one should _never_ piss off a pregnant woman who was a chaser for six years. Their aim was too accurate.

If James had just let him out of the dorm when he tried to leave, then he would already be sitting in the warm pub drinking a butterbeer with Annabelle, who he hasn't seen in almost two months. She was now about six months pregnant and she had promised to tell him if he was getting a niece or nephew and when the baby was actually due. But James had taken it upon himself to accuse Ben of causing the personality change in Ursula.

Ever since that trip to the kitchens, Ursula had practically stopped talking to him. It broke his heart every time she purposely avoided sitting next to him or when she switched seats with James so she was no longer next to him in Defense. No one had been able to figure out what was wrong with her; even Elyse, her closest friend out of all of them, couldn't get anything out of her. There was only one other person in the entire school that knew what happened and that was Regulus. Ben had tried but the Slytherin was extremely hard to find. He lived up to the stereotype of the Slytherin house and was extremely slippery.

Yet none of that really mattered at that moment because his sister was going to murder him. The second that he had been able to convince James and the other guys that he wasn't responsible for whatever was going on with Ursula, they allowed him to leave. They were going to be joining him later once the girls finally got ready.

He burst into the Three Broomsticks, shoving a third year who decided that the doorway was a wonderful place to stop and contemplate life, and quickly tried to find his sister in the crowd.

"Where are the rest of your friends?" Rosmerta asked as she walked past. Ben shrugged, knowing he was being slightly rude since he and his friends had become usual guests at her pub and she continued to put up with them without complaint.

"Is Annabelle here?" He hurriedly asked.

She furrowed her brows in confusion before realization spread over her face, "I keep forgetting you're her sister! She's right near the back, I didn't want her getting jostled around in the crowd with her being pregnant and all."

"Thank you Rosmerta." Ben said before he began pushing himself through the absurd amount of people in the bar. Merlin, his friends were going to have a right challenge trying to find him later.

However, when he saw his sister, he forgot how annoyed his friends would be when they couldn't find him. Annabelle looked bored and irritated nursing what looked to be a jug of water. But she still had a natural glow from her pregnancy and every so often she would reach down and rub the top of her protruding stomach.

"I'm sorry, I was being held hostage," Ben apologized as he quickly took off his Gryffindor scarf and coat.

Annabelle raised an eyebrow and looked amused, "Hostage? What the hell did you do?"

Ben explained the situation, sparing no detail to his sister. For the first time to anyone, he mentioned Regulus and the conversation he had with his sister. A conversation no one knew the contents of. "…and now she won't even bloody look at me and it's killing me, Anna." Ben admitted.

To Annabelle's credit, she had been silent the entire explanation, listening to every word her brother said. When he was done, she shook her head, "Merlin, I know that teenage blokes can be thick but you just brought it to a whole new level, Ben."

"What are you talking about?!" He shouted, exasperated with the whole situation.

She just rolled her eyes and sipped on her drink. She put it down before she began explaining, "Think about it. She just had a private conversation with her little brother who is a pureblood obsessed freak who also just saw his sister walking with the only son of the family that is antipodal to ours. What do you think he said? 'Oh, Ursula, I am so happy you fancy Benjamin White! The family is so happy for you; we already have your wedding planned'—HELL NO! He said something that made her not want to speak to you ever again."

"He convinced her not to date me because I'm a White?" Ben asked in shock. His last name had always given his special privileges growing up. Now the one thing he really wanted was the one thing his name prevented him from having.

"No shit, Sherlock. That's exactly what happened!" Annabelle reached over the table and swatted him over the head.

Just then, a hand came from behind and messed up his hair. Ben jumped a foot in the air only to see his unofficial brother-in-law laughing behind him. Gideon patted him on the shoulder in greeting before sitting down at the table. "How's it going, buddy? I've heard you've had some girl problems lately."

Ben groaned, "Seriously, does everyone want to get involved in my personal life?"

"It's fun meddling. Ursula Black right?"

"Yeah. She's the chaser on the Quidditch team with James. Remember from last year?"

Gideon nodded appreciatively, "A chaser huh? Well let me tell you one thing about chasers; they are _always_ worth the chase." He said with a cheeky grin.

Rolling her eyes at her fiancée, Annabelle turned back towards her brother, "He's been using that line for ages. It gets old."

"You love it," Gideon teased.

Annabelle smiled and kissed Gideon's cheek, "I bloody love yeh. But right now your son is kicking up a storm in my stomach so I kind of hate you right now."

Ben perked up at the mention of the gender, "Son?" he questioned. "You know for sure?"

The pair looked at each other and Gideon reached over and put his arm around the back of her chair. "Yup. You're going to have a little nephew. He's due in mid January."

Ben's smile was so wide that it looked like his face would crack in half if he smiled a centimeter wider, "That's brilliant! Did you pick a name yet? What about Godfather and Godmother?" He questioned excitedly.

His sister laughed, "We're not telling you his name. Something has to be a surprise for you guys. You know when he is due and that he is a he. And we haven't even discussed Godparents yet. We still have time."

"What did Mom and Dad say?" Ben asked.

"Mom was over the moon," Annabelle said rolling her eyes slightly. "She bugged the bloody hell out of the both of us to get married before he is born, but I'm not walking down the aisle the size of a whale. Once she accepted that, she and dad kept on talking about all the furniture they were going to get the baby and Dad fussed over my health."

Ben nodded, knowing he shared the same worries as his father, "how _are_ you feeling?"

"Like I need to use the bloody loo," Annabelle said as she stood up and hurried (waddled) towards the bathroom. Both boys watched her retreating back. Ben looked over at Gideon and saw the older man look concerned.

Before Ben could ask, Gideon spoke up, still not looking at Ben, "You know, Ursula reminds me a lot of Annabelle."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, confused at the comparison.

Gideon snorted and took a sip of butterbeer, "I know it sounds crazy since they hated each other for the first half of our last year, but they are two people cut from the same cloth. Not only are they both chasers, they both seem to hide a lot of things from the people close to them. Take Ursula for instance; have you ever got the feeling that she was hiding something she knew from you?"

Ben's silence was a good enough answer for Gideon to continue, "Your sister's the same. Sometimes, especially after Jay visits, I can just see it in her eyes that she knows too much. Then she always keeps her emotions close to her heart. You can almost never know how she really feels."

"What do you mean?" For his entire life, Ben didn't have a single memory of Annabelle lying to him or being secretive. She always seemed carefree, never worried or secretive.

Gideon was oddly silent a moment. He seemed lost in his thoughts before he asked, "have you ever heard Ursula mention the Gryffindor Balcony?"

Surprised at the seemingly sudden change of topic, "no," he answered hesitantly.

Either Gideon didn't notice or didn't care how lost Ben looked. He just continued, "It's this balcony that is only accessible to the Gryffindor Girls from their half of the Tower. Rumor has it that Godric Gryffindor's wife created the balcony so only a girl worthy of her husband's ideals could find it. It went undiscovered for almost two hundred years before a third year student found it. Right before she left the school, she inscribed her name on the wall and then went to the first year she thought to be most deserving of the hide out and told the first year about it. From then on it was tradition that only one person be able to access the balcony and to leave their name inscribed on the wall."

"Who was the first girl to find it?"

Gideon smirked, "Imogene Peverell."

That caused Ben to stop and think a moment, "How do you know that?"

"That's the brilliance of the balcony. The girl who is told the secret can take as many people she wants through the entrance but if any of the other girls try to back on their own time, they can't get up. Same goes for boys. If a boy were to take their broom and fly up to the Tower, if they know the girl who has access to the balcony and she is on it, they are able to see it. If she isn't or he doesn't know, then they would never see anything."

"This is interesting but that doesn't explain how this is connected to Annabelle or anything else we are talking about."

"Ah, but it does, young nargle. At the very end of Annabelle's first year, a seventh year named Josephine Longbottom pulled her aside and told her about this magical balcony."

Ben's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline, "Anna knows about this room?"

Gideon nodded, "And she told someone about it when she graduated."

It all clicked together in Ben's head. "Ursula."

Once again, Gideon nodded, "Now tell me if I'm wrong, but when Ursula seems really stressed she runs up the stairs but when your other friend Elyse goes to check on her in their room, she isn't there? After Quidditch games, can you find her easily?"

The younger boy just shook his head and Gideon smirked triumphantly, "Anna did the same thing. Then sometimes she just went up there to think. That was actually the first place I proposed to her."

Ben started choking on the sip of butterbeer he had just taken, "You PROPOSED before you graduated?!"

Gideon snorted, "You thought that it was my idea that we didn't get married? Ha! She bloody turned me down every time I asked."

"Why? I mean—I thought that—Why?" Ben finally stuttered out.

"Why? At first it was because we were too young. Then it was because she was an Auror and I joined the Order and we didn't need distractions. Then it was because there was a lull in the fighting, we shouldn't jump into something. She only said yes after she found out about the baby. She wanted to make sure that— Merlin forbid—if something happened to one of us, the kid would be legally recognized as the surviving parent's child."

"But why would she think you guys are going to die? There's peace right now." Ben argued.

Gideon shook his head and leaned towards Ben and whispered, "It is anything but peaceful right now."

Just then, Annabelle appeared back at the table. She looked at their faces, noticing the terrified expression on one and the grave expression on the other, and asked, "What did I miss?"

Gideon shot Ben a look so Ben responded, "Nothing."

"Yeah Annie," Gideon teased with a smirk on his face as he leaned back in his chair, "Just some brotherly bonding."

Ben just nodded in agreement and put a fake smile on his face while he was internally panicking. What the hell did Gideon mean?

At the complete opposite half of Hogsmeade, Ursula and Elyse were walking down the busy street. They had lost the four other boys at Zonko's about ten minutes ago. Elyse wanted to go to Honeyduke's to get some chocolate for Pat for Christmas.

"Are you sure he won't suspect anything?" Ursula asked as she picked up a chocolate bar that sang songs when it was touched.

Elyse nodded confidently, "I'll just get 'im teh most normal one."

Ursula snorted, "The most normal, magical chocolate. That sounds logical."

"Ah, shut up. At least I've got me a boyfriend," Elyse teased.

"Come on, Elyse! We have this conversation almost every day! I'm not going to go out with Ben," she said assertively.

Elyse rolled her eyes, "And me Mam's a kitten."

Ursula stopped midstep and looked at her friend oddly, "That made no sense what so ever."

"Exactly," Elyse said absentmindedly. "Yeh's makin' no sense either."

A shout from outside caused the conversation to come to a rapid end. The girls looked at each other before they walked out of the store to look for person who screamed.

"You did hear that right?" Ursula asked.

Elyse nodded and just as she was about to say something, there was a loud explosion in the alley a little farther down the road. Without even looking at each other, both of them took off running down the street. They came to a skidding halt at the end of the alley and saw four Slytherins surrounding a fallen Gryffindor.

"Get the boys," Ursula ordered Elyse before she ran towards the end of the alley. Elyse didn't respond but she heard Elyse's running feet crunch against the snow as she listened to Ursula.

Ursula recognized the students as she got closer as the new chaser, Moira McGonagall. Anger swelled in her heart when she heard what sounded like Avery cruelly chuckling, "—Auntie Minerva save you now."

"She doesn't need Professor McGonagall," Ursula said as she stood in front of Moira. "She's got me."

Now in front of the Slytherins she was able to identify Avery, Snape, Nott, and Regulus hanging around the back. Three of them had their wands in their hands so Ursula brandished hers in front of her, unwavering. Moira struggled to sit up behind her, whimpering, but Ursula with her free hand, motioned for her to stay still, "Stay still. Help is coming."

"You're little friends are coming? Isn't that just precious," Snape spat. "The dunderheads are coming; we should be so scared."

Ursula shot a stunning hex just barely missing Snape (still singeing his hair though) causing all three boys to jump. She regarded them coldly, "If they were a bunch of dunderheads then you wouldn't be holding your wand so tightly Snivellus."

Nott spoke up to divert attention away from Snape who had no rebuttal, "You're only defending McGonagall because of her Aunt! Now a professor is in your debt!" He accused.

"You may think like that but Gryffindors look out for our own not for personal gain. I know that's a hard concept for Slytherins to understand!" Ursula accused them.

There were voices coming from the end of the alley and all six of them turned towards the noise to see James leading the group consisting of Sirius, Remus, Elyse, and Ben. The size of the group wasn't what caught the attention of the Slytherins, even though they were now outnumbered. What caught their attention was the fact they all had their wands out. Before they got to the end of the alley, Avery stepped forward so he was nose to nose, "You may have protected her once but you won't be able to protect her forever."

With that, the Slytherins quickly left from the other side of the alley. Only one turned around to take a fleeting look at the sister who still regarded him with compassionate and forgiving eyes.

Quickly the boys reached the two girls. Ben immediately went to Ursula side while the others went to Moira's. "Are you alright?" Ben asked her while gently touching her arm. She looked into his eyes and nodded once before she went kneel next to James, who was checking a bump on Moira's leg.

"Will she be alright?" Ursula asked.

James looked up from his healing, "I think so. We should probably get Pomfrey to look this over just in case. With the game in two weeks, I don't want to take any chances with her," He said.

Moira reached up and grabbed Ursula's hand, "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't show up."

"What were you doing in an alley all by yourself?" Sirius asked.

"I was just walking past when one of them grabbed my robes and pulled me into the alley. I shouted out but no one came and they were saying these horrible things. Then they blasted me back and something snapped in my ankle," Moira explained.

Ursula placed her hand on Moira's shoulder, "Can you sit up? We need to get you to the Hospital Wing."

Struggling, Moira sat up. Elyse went on the other side of Moira and the girls helped Moira to her feet. Slowly the pair started walked towards the end of the alley with Ben and Remus as a 'guard' for the three.

James turned to Sirius, "Those two seriously need to get together. It's bloody annoying."

"It's sickening. I know I said I wouldn't make it easy for him to date my sister but I didn't mean for this to happen!" Sirius said exasperated. "Sissy's miserable and Ben's borderline distraught. They're just too bloody stubborn."

A thought hit James like a bludger, "Oi! Your Uncle Alphard got my parents together when they were in school. We should write him," James suggested.

"Genius! And maybe Ursula told him what happened between her and Ben."

With that plan, the two boys started walking towards the main street. "Wait a second, where's Peter?" Sirius asked after a moment.

James rolled his eyes, "He probably got lost."

"There's only one street," Sirius said slowly in confusion but then shook his head, "Why am I questioning this? It's Peter."

James laughed and put his arm around Sirius's shoulder, "Too true, my friend. Too true." Then, as any true friend would do, James shoved Sirius so he landed face first in a pile of snow. James ran off, knowing that Sirius would no doubt chase after him.

* * *

About two weeks later, they were all sitting in Transfiguration. It was an exam day so the only sound in the room was the sound of quills scratching against parchment. It was one of the longest and hardest tests they ever had to take. Even Lily looked slightly panicked at some of the questions. The only two that finished before the end of the period were James and Ursula.

"Miss Black, would you might staying behind a moment?" McGonagall asked as they gathered up their stuff.

Ursula met Ben's eyes, almost automatically looking towards him. He just shrugged but nodded, letting her know that he would wait outside for her. McGonagall waited until the classroom was empty before she spoke, "Moira has just recently told me about what happened at Hogsmeade during the last visit." She started in a soft and serious tone; one that only McGonagall could pull off without sounding ridiculous.

Ursula didn't say anything and just nodded so McGonagall continued, "I would like to personally thank you. You risked your own safety to protect my niece's, a true quality of a Gryffindor. For this I am awarding you fifteen points as well as my heartfelt thanks. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"You could talk to Professor Sprout about the detention I have for the Herbology incident a few days ago." Ursula said as she shuffled her feet and put her arms behind her back.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows but Ursula swore she saw a small smile on her professor's face. "I'll see what I can do. But if you do something for me then I might be able to get all your friends out of detention."

"What?" Ursula asked, shock coloring her question.

This time McGonagall did outright grin, "Crush Slytherin this weekend."

Ursula snorted, "Honestly Minnie, that's not even in question."

The game came all too quickly. When Ursula walked onto the field between Elyse and James and felt the thrill fill her. She looked up to the stands and saw her brother along with Ben, Peter, and Remus cheering loudly along with her roommates. She nudged Elyse on the shoulder and pointed towards the group. That brought a smile to the new seeker's face.

Then Ursula looked across the field and she stopped short. Standing in the traditional starting spot of the seeker stood her younger brother in the Slytherin Quidditch uniform. She stared at her brother, as he did the same, and they both almost missed the take off.

The game was quick. All the new members on the Slytherin team obviously thought that Gryffindor would not be a challenge. James shattered that thought when he scored within the first fifteen seconds of the game. Sean was on his game, a complete 180 from the last game he played, and only allowed in four goals the entire game.

Ursula was just coasting towards the end of the game when she saw Elyse streak past her after the snitch.

"OI! Black! Protect her from this!" Avery taunted as he flew past her. She looked at him confused, wondering why he said that. She heard the roar of the crowd, signaling the end of the game as Elyse caught the snitch. Then she saw where, or more specifically who, Avery was flying towards. Moira.

"MOIRA!" Ursula shouted as she leaned forward on her broom and raced towards her teammate she had taken under her wing the last month. But she was too late. Avery hit the bludger straight towards Moira and then almost immediately afterwards threw the beater's bat at her as well. Ursula heard the sickening crack as the bludger connected with her ribs and the dull thud as the bat connected with Moira's skull.

Ursula saw red when Moira fell off her broom. Liam and Cormac were both racing towards her falling body and they caught her before she hit the ground. The crowd was shouting out indignantly and in the back of her mind, Ursula heard McGonagall screaming angrily at Avery. But Ursula's hearing wasn't there, everything sounded like fuzz. Anger flew through her blood as she landed and sprinted towards Avery, who was laughing with another member of the Slytherin team.

It was pure instinct; she didn't even remember thinking about using that spell. When asked later, she could not tell you what spell she used even though she was quite familiar with it. Avery was coughing up blood and was painfully doubled over. A sick, twisted feeling of satisfaction gathered in her heart. Ursula smirked and felt disconnected from her body yet completely there at the same time. She raised her wand again, ready to use another spell when she was grabbed from behind. "URSULA!"

She jumped and was snapped back to reality by Ben. She saw Avery doubled over, throwing up more and more blood as the seconds passed, and she saw her wand in her hand. Horrified at what she had done – what she had become – she turned on her heel and sprinted from the pitch, leaving behind a bewildered and slightly terrified Ben.

Two hours later and no one had seen Ursula. The boys and Elyse (after visiting Moira in the Hospital Wing) broke up and went to search the castle, trying to find her. Ben just walked past the kitchen when he remembered Gideon's advice from a few weeks ago. _"Now tell me if I'm wrong, but when Ursula seems really stressed she runs up the stairs but when your other friend Elyse goes to check on her in their room, she isn't there? After Quidditch games, can you find her easily?"_

The Balcony.

Ben ran back to his dorm and grabbed James's broom. He mentally told himself that James wouldn't be angry at him for using his prized broom for because it was for Ursula. He looked out the window and taking a breath, sat on the broom and then jumped out the window. Flying was something that came naturally to him and he flew straight up towards where Gideon described the balcony. He was slightly surprised yet unsurprised at the same time when he saw the dim light coming from the very top of the tower.

He flew up and landed near the corner. Ursula was sitting against the wall, staring at floor in front of her. Ben could see the dim light glittering off the tracks of tears on her cheeks.

"Ursula," he whispered.

She jumped a foot in the air and quickly stood on her feet. She looked panicked a moment before she calmed, seeing it was just Ben. "How the hell do you know about this place?"

"Gideon told me."

That was enough explanation for Ursula to understand how he knew, but not enough for why he was there. "Well, why are you up here? Wanted to make sure I didn't end up cursing someone else with something dark? Want to check for the Dark Mark?" She pulled up the sleeve of her Quidditch jersey to reveal her pale forearms.

Ben shook his head, "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

She laughed manically, "Me okay? I'm just a bloody Black; that's all I'll ever be."

"No you're not." Ben said assertively. He walked quickly towards her and grabbed her shoulders, "You may be Black by name but that is it. You are nothing like your fam—"

"YES I AM!" She shouted at him as she broke away from his grip. "Did you not see what I did to Avery?! I used dark magic on another student! I'm not better than the rest of my insane family who thinks it's okay to hurt people! I hurt someone with the magic that I swore I would never use! I could have KILLED him! I'm just as bad as them!"

Ben was silent a moment while Ursula was slightly panting after yelling. Then he shook his head, "Everyone has good and bad in them. It just depends on which side of us we decide to act on. You used dark magic on someone who almost killed one of your teammates. What you did was wrong yes, but if someone hurt Annabelle, I know my reaction would probably be worse than what you just did."

"But you're a White. Whites don't act like Blacks." Ursula whispered softly to the night.

He shook his head, "We are just human beings. Our last names are nothing."

"Whites don't get along with Blacks. Our relationship shouldn't even exist."

Suddenly, it all clicked in Ben's head; why she stopped talking to him after Regulus spoke to her. Ben grabbed hold of her shoulders once more but this time more gently, "Trust me, White can very much be friends with Blacks. And sometimes, something more."

"Ben, we can't," she distressed. "The Minister's son dating a daughter of the Blacks? No one would approve of it."

"Who care about them? They are just stupid people whose opinion doesn't matter. I'll tell your right now that I don't give a damn. You are, and always will be, just Ursula to me. I have fancied you for over a year now and I have never even considered who you are related to."

"White's don't fancy Blacks." Ursula whispered. Her eyes were wide and glassy with tears that shone even brighter in the moonlight. She looked everywhere except at him and it drove him crazy.

Ben shook his head and placed his hand gently under her chin, gently moving it so she was looking at him, "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"White's don't—" she started to whisper again.

That was when he kissed her. A dull thudding against his chest told him that this wasn't a dream this time; it was real. He was standing on the Gryffindor balcony kissing the girl he had known for four years and fancied for almost two.

Her lips were softer than he ever could have imagined. It felt like they were frozen in time. The moon stopped moving across the sky to watch the romantic scene play out.

Just as quickly as he initiated the kiss, Ben pulled back and smiled caringly towards her, "Do you believe me now?"

Her response was something he never expected. She stood up on her tip toes and leaned forward, keeping direct eye contact with him the entire time, her eyes only closing when she was millimeters away from his lips.

"Are you sure?" Her warm breath danced across his face, sending a chill down his spine. He nodded once before her lips captured his for the first time. There were no interruptions, no Mrs. Norris's, no roommates to break up the moment. Just a girl and boy stepping into the unknown together, disregarding all they knew. Her hands snaked up around his neck and his wrapped around her waist.

Just then, a shout carried up from the open fourth year boys' window, "SOMEONE BLOODY STOLE MY BROOM!"

Ursula broke away from the kiss and Ben had to fight the urge to lean forward and kiss her again. It was intoxicating, her kisses. "Did you…?" She asked.

Ben smirked and nodded. She laughed and took a step back, but grabbed onto his hand. "You should probably go back before they start asking questions." She suggested.

He nodded and kissed her chastely on the lips and squeezed her hand before letting go. He walked over to James's broom and walked towards the edge before turning back to see if Ursula left yet. She was standing at the entrance, about the climb through when she turned around. Ursula smiled at him and waved shyly at him, turning slightly red. He chuckled and waved back before jumping onto the broom and flying back to his dorm, knowing that whatever lecture he was about to receive from James would be completely worth it. He finally got his girl and he wasn't going to let go of her any time soon.


	9. From the View of a Flower

_Sorry about the delay in updating. It has been a really stressful couple of weeks, in and out of school. Then of course I decided that I wanted to try to do something different with this chapter from the comment about focusing a fair bit on Ursula and Ben. So I went the complete opposite direction. _

_I hope you like this. Please, let me know what you think of it._

* * *

There wasn't a moment for the last four years that Lily didn't hate James Potter and the rest of his little posse. They were all gits and parts and cruel but Potter was the worst of all. He loved to torture the 'lesser' people in the school while his friend just laughed or helped him hurt others. The amount of times she had to help Sev to the hospital wing because of those seven… She always tried to be a good person but there was a part of her heart that absolutely loathed James bloody Potter and the rest of them.

Actually, if she was being honest with herself she would admit that she really didn't mind four of them. Ben was usually the wisest of the group and the mature, but he unfortunately picked when he wanted to have his moments. Remus never initiated anything but his flaw was that he stood back and watched. Ursula was her close friend but even Lily had to admit that girl was closer to James than she ever would be to Lily, causing her to join in on James's malicious assaults on Severus. Elyse was the sweetest of the group but even then, she just stood in the back giggling and laughing at the 'joke'.

But at this moment, Lily wanted to strangle all of them.

"STOP IT!" She screeched at all of them, distracting them and giving Severus an opportunity to stand up. His cloths were rumpled and he looked a bit nauseous, but at the same time furious. "What are you doing to him, Potter!?" She asked as she jabbed her wand in the said boy's direction.

James shrugged, "He was following us. The little creep was listening in on our conversation."

"This is a hallway." Lily bit out. "People are going to walk down it and hear conversations."

Sirius snorted, "Come on, Evans, we purposely changed up our route to see if he was following us. He followed us at every random turn. He's not all that innocent."

Lily put her hand on her hip and focused on Sirius, "Really? Well, did you have something to hide?"

"They did! I heard a few things before they attacked me." Snape hissed.

"Not like he didn't deserve it," Ursula muttered to Ben who chuckled and nodded slightly.

Unfortunately for Ursula, Lily overheard the comment. "Ursula! How dare you! I thought you were my friend, but all you are is a bully!"

"Like Snivellus isn't." Ursula fought back. "Merlin forbid, perfect Severus Snape gets a little bit of his own medicine."

"You are just a spiteful person! All you do is hurt people that you don't like for no reason! For all the arrogance Potter has, you are just a bullying bitch that doesn't care about people! All you do is stab people in the back and use dark magic on people for things out of their control! Yet you claim to be different from your family," Lily hissed.

Sirius's and James's faces were furious and both stepped forward, Lily unknowingly touching a nerve deep within them. Ursula stepped forward, her face red with fury. She opened her mouth to say something but a hand reached out and pulled her back.

"It's not worth it," Ben whispered in her ear.

She fought against his hold for just s moment before she turn on her heels and let Ben guide her away from the others. He turned around just a moment to look at Lily disappointedly. Elyse glared at her before running after he friend, followed by Peter and Remus.

James and Sirius stayed behind however. Their glares were enough to cause her to step back behind Severus.

"And you call yourself her friend," Sirius sneered before he spat at her feet. "Pathetic."

She flinched and Severus raised his wand to hex Black but Lily forced his arm down. Sirius glared at her one last time before he turned and rushed back to try to find his twin. The remaining three stood completely still. James was the angriest one, angrier than Lily had ever seen him.

"You know Evans, that girl right there has more loyalty, honor, and kindness than that snake next to you will ever have in his fingernail. She has done everything to prove that she isn't just a last name but then there are people like you that can only judge by a name. She is nothing like them and if you knew half of the things they have done to her then you wouldn't dare say any of the things you just said. I trust her with my life and you should damn well too. She's protected you and defended you from people you don't and do know and this how you repay her. Despicable," he said disgustedly before he too turned and followed after his friends.

Severus placed his hand on Lily's shoulder, "Do you want to go to the library now?"

She nodded mutely and just walked next to him as he speed off towards the library. All Lily could think about was the heartbroken face on Ursula in the few seconds after Lily snapped at her. Had she really hurt Ursula that badly? Potter just got her so riled up…

"What's on your mind?" Severus asked her.

She looked up sadly at her childhood friend, "Do you think I was too harsh on Ursula?"

Severus snorted, "Black? She deserved worse. Her and her friends are hiding something big— something illegal. They deserve to all go to Azkaban from the sound of it. What you said is nothing compared to what she deserves."

"Illegal? Sev, what did you hear?" Lily asked shocked.

He stopped and looked up and down the hallway to make sure no one was there. He leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice, "It's something involving Lupin and where he goes every month. They mentioned joining him on his 'trips'."

Lily froze and tried to hide the panic from her face.

She knew Remus was a werewolf. She figured it out about a year ago when Ursula and Elyse gave her two completely different reasons for Remus's absence. Lily had known that something was amiss but when she saw the full moon outside of her window later that night and heard a howl, she remembered their at that time recent boggart lesson and Remus's boggart of the moon. It clicked together for her at the instant. The next morning when she saw all of the new cuts on his face and how sick he was, she swore to never speak of his condition to anyone.

It appeared however that she was not the first to figure it out. His friends undoubtedly figured it out before she did. Sev must have misheard them; none of them were stupid enough to join a werewolf during the full moon. Then again, they had proven in the past they weren't past putting themselves in danger to protect one of their friends. A feeling of understanding and pride swept over her as she thought of their closeness but at the same time panic.

Snape must have picked up on her feelings because he said, "Don't worry, Lily, I will figure out what they are doing and once I do, they will be suspended for sure."

Lily just nodded and tried to ignore the vindictiveness and harshness he used with his words.

It was a week later and Lily was back in the library, reading a book Professor Slughorn suggested her to read to advance her potion making knowledge. It was towards the back of the library where most students never ventured because it was full of extraneous knowledge. She was just getting to the part about the reversal properties of moonstone when a shock of black hair caught her attention. Ursula was hiding behind a bookshelf with three heavy transfiguration books under her arm. She didn't appear to be looking at books. Rather, she was looking at another black haired boy that looked strikingly similar to her sitting across the table from a shy Hufflepuff in one of the most secluded corners of the library.

"Her name is Olivia Carmichael. They've been meeting in secret the last year or so," Lily said softly.

Ursula jumped and almost dropped her books. She glared at Lily but nodded in thanks. Without saying a word she walked over to her table on the other side of the library and put her books down on the table. Lily noticed there were already five other books opened with notes sticking out of them.

"They worked together on a herbology project first year." Lily offered, desperately trying to get her friend to talk to her. "Apparently they became friends and they've needed to keep their relationship a secret. Only her friends know and I was told because I tutored her in Charms last year." Lily practically begged to get a reaction from Ursula.

The other girl continued to ignore her so Lily pressed on. "She's a half blood so that just proves that your brother is kind of like you, he doesn't care about blood as much as some people think! I mean, look, he is practically dating a half-blood!"

All that got her was a flip of a page.

Deciding that the game was over, Lily squared her shoulders and quite clearly said, "I know about Remus."

The result was instantaneous. Ursula jumped from her seat and had her wand pointing directly at Lily's face so fast that it was a blur. "What do you know?" She demanded harshly.

"There's no need for this," Lily tried to persuade, wary at the wand being pointed at her face.

Ursula shook her head and smirked humorlessly, "What's wrong Lily? I'm just like the rest of my family; you should have expected this reaction from me since I am a sick sadistic person."

"That's not what I meant; you've got to believe me! It was just that Potter riled me up and –"

"And so what?!" Ursula demanded harshly. "So you think that every time I'm around Snape and he makes some comment that angers me, I start snapping at muggleborns and half bloods? Do you think that I don't care about half the things we do? Well I do Lily! Most of the stuff is just harmless fun but you turn it into something else entirely because you hate James for no reason!"

"Potter isn't innocent!" Lily argued. "He has—"

Ursula rolled her eyes dramatically, "I know he isn't a saint and I know he is an arrogant prick. But guess what Lily, that boy is like a brother to me and his family has taken me in when my family hurts me. You think that I just show up from all the breaks with cuts and bruises and burns from falling off a broom or trying to make a new potion or inventing new hexes with Sirius? No! Most of those were caused by mother and some of my cousins!"

"Ursula—"

"And you know who doesn't care or doesn't judge me or Sirius? Who took us in this summer when my mother tried to set up an arranged marriage for me? When she hit Sirius and me? James did. Without a moment of hesitation, he opened his home for us. And yet you still call him a heartless prick and an arrogant toe rag," Ursula said harshly, "He is one hell of a friend to have and I will stay loyal to him until the day I die and if that means not being your friend, then it will have to be."

Lily was pale at this point and her hand shook. She had no idea Ursula's life was that bad at home. All of the times she mocked Ursula's parents as 'meanies' or Potter for being a crap friend, she had no idea what she was really saying.

But Ursula wasn't done, "And you can also count on me being loyal to Remus. If I ever even catch wind that you said something to anyone about his condition, be rest assured Lily Evans because even Snivellus and all of the people that bloody love you won't be able to protect you." With that she slammed her book shut and grabbed a few of them and stalked quickly out of the library.

Lily let out a shaky breath and held onto the edge of the table to keep her balance. She was literally in shock at the truthfulness of the threat just made. She had seen Ursula defend her friends to other students before but she had never been on the receiving end of it. As she tried to regain her composure she saw one the remaining books still open on the table. The curiosity that almost got her placed in Ravenclaw sprang to the forefront and she looked to the cover, _Advanced Human Transfiguration_, with the page open to chapter about the changing body temperature and how to avoid freezing and overheating when another animal.

For the next three weeks Lily never spoke to Ursula. Snow started falling and soon the last Quidditch practice before the snow got to heavy was upon all of Gryffindor Tower. Lily was walking up the stairs after getting some early morning potions done and she heard laughter and voices coming down the stairs from her room. The second that she opened the door however, Ursula and Elyse fell silent.

They were both in their Quidditch gear and Elyse was helping Ursula put some of her arm shields on. Elyse was working on the second one when Ursula abruptly grabbed it and said, "I'll get James to get this one. I'll meet you in the locker room." With that she grabbed her Quidditch robe and stormed past Lily without even a word.

Elyse was silent a moment before she said, "Yeh just need te give 'er some time. She was really 'urt by woot yeh said."

"You don't think I know that!? I feel horrible about what I said! I keep relaying the moment in my head over and over again and I keep on trying to figure out why I said what I said and I don't know why!" Lily cried.

"Talk teh 'er later after teh practice. She's in teh zone right now," Elyse explained.

The lump in Lily's throat burned, "Could you um, could you maybe talk to her before I do?"

Elyse smiled kindly and nodded saying, "Yeh know, she misses yeh te," before walking out of the room.

Lily hesitated a moment before she rushed down a few steps and asked, "Do you know…?" she trailed off.

Thankfully, Elyse understood what she was implying, "I've got a feelin' it'll blow ova' soon," Elyse said with a wink. Then she continued down the stairs and disappeared around the spiral.

Lily sighed and realized her books were still in her hands so she went back to the room to put them down before she decided to head down to the library. Of course when she got to the bottom of the staircase James Potter was standing right there.

"'Ello Evans. Where are you off to on this gorgeous day?"

She rolled her eyes and tried to side step him, "Where I am going is none of your business."

James smirked, "It is when you are fighting with Ursula."

Lily stopped trying to get around him and just glared at him. If the intensity of her gaze was real, his hair would be burning to crisp at that moment. "Potter, what is happening between Ursula and me is none of your business."

"Like it or not, it is my business. I can help you fix it though. Just go on a date with me Evans and I'll put a good word in for you."

Flabbergasted, Lily stared at him in shock. She felt her anger and frustration build up in her chest but she repressed it. Taking a deep breath, Lily said, "If you cared at all about Ursula the way she says you do, you wouldn't be making me that offer. Therefore, go to hell and please leave me alone."

James shrugged and said coldly, "Have it your way. Just remember, Ursula would believe me twice as much as she would ever believe you." With that, he swung his broom over his shoulder and casually walked out of the Tower and towards the Pitch.

Frustrated and hurt beyond all belief Lily stormed out of Gryffindor Tower and began to roam the halls of Hogwarts. She needed to speak to someone but there was no one. Alice and Marlene were trying to stay neutral in the situation, the boys were siding with Ursula, Elyse was at practice, Sev hated Ursula with a passion so he wouldn't care.

With every fiber of her being, with every spark of magic in her, with every breath she took she wished that she could take back what she said. Ursula was one of her closest friends but if that was true, she never would have said those things. Out of frustration, she kicked the wall and yelped in pain when she realized she was just wearing her morning slippers.

"Are you alright there?"

Lily jumped a foot in the air, "God, Gabe," Lily gasped as she caught her breath when she identified the speaker, "You scared me half to death."

He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about that, Lily. You just looked really upset and you almost kicked a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff's daughter. She likes to sleep in late and she is known to be quite grumpy if woken up too early."

Tears filled her eyes, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I don't want to make her upset! I just wanted— I don't know what I want!"

"What happened?" Gabe asked with genuine concern.

With one look into his clear and kind blue eyes Lily spilled out the entire story. By the end she noticed that he had guided them towards one of the window alcoves. She sniffled and slightly smiled in thanks.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Gabe asked her once he gave her a second to regain her composure.

She looked up at him confused, "What?"

He chuckled and sat down opposite of her, "Lily, I just listened to you cry about your problem with Ursula and while it might have made you feel better, you need to talk to Ursula one on one. As her friend Elyse said, she does miss you. And don't worry about Potter, he's always going to be like that to you."

"Great," Lily said despairingly as she rolled her eyes.

"But you need to look at the positives. Just go back to Gryffindor Tower and find Ursula and talk to her."

Lily nodded resolutely and just stood up when she realized something, "They have Quidditch practice right now."

"Then there's nothing you can do right now. You just need to calm down and maybe –" His finished his sentence so quickly that his voice squeaked and he turned red and started muttering about something.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

He blushed but said, "I said, maybe we can spend some time together?" He suggested shyly.

Lily smiled brightly, "I would love that."

His face was almost comical. Here was Lily Evans, the most beautiful (in his opinion) girl in the school, smartest, kindest, least judgmental girl he knew and she said yes to him. Lily, the flip side of the token, couldn't help but notice that Gabe was the exact opposite of Potter. It was perfect.

They walked around the castle for close to an hour before they went to lunch, spent part of the day by the lake, ate dinner at the Hufflepuff table, and then sttled themselves in the library. Lily sat in the library across from Gabe, trying to laugh silently at his story. Spending time with him caused all of her worries about the situation with Ursula to melt away.

"—and Amos didn't realized that she was behind him the entire time!"

They both dissolved into a fit of laughter that caused the usually easy going Madame Bodley to come over and shush them. They apologized while still holding back laughter. She shook her head fondly as she walked away. The second they were alone again, they started laughing again. Lily was gasping for breath by the time she finished.

"I can't imagine Amos saying that!"

Gabe just shrugged, still chuckling at the story, "No one did!"

At that moment, a familiar ghost floated by with a melancholy look on his face.

"Sir Nicolas!" Lily said as loudly as she could in a library to get the Gryffindor House Ghost's attention.

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington came to a stop in front of the two teens. His eyes widened when he recognized Lily as one of his own, "Lily Evans! I am surprised to see you here— surely you must have heard the news by now?" He inquired.

Her brows furrowed, "What news?"

"It was terribly tragic; the Gryffindor team was just coming in from practice – a marvelous team they are – and young Ursula Black broke away from the group to go get some food from the kitchens. How she found the location of the kitchens is beyond me. But what happened next is tragic. I was on my way to find the Fat Friar for I had found a portrait of him in his youth that had been moved over the summer. In any case, Ursula Black was walking up the stairs and she greeted me in the most polite way. Before I was even able to offer my salutations, the Slytherin boy that often resides around you, sent a tripping hex her way."

Lily gasped in horror, unable to believe that Severus had done such a thing. Sir Nicolas continued his story, shuddering at the memory, "She fell backwards and with her being at the top step, she tumbled down an entire flight of stairs and landed in a heap, unconscious. Immediately the boy ran off before I could figure out his name – a cowardly thing to do especially when the attack was unprovoked – and I tried to wake her up by shouting her name. Unfortunately, she did not stir. I immediately rushed to find the nearest Prefect who carried her to the Hospital Wing."

"Is she alright?"Lily asked mortified.

Sir Nicolas shook his head sadly, "After she was rushed to the Hospital Wing, I immediately sought out her friends, knowing that they deserved to know what happened to their friend. Her brother was quite aggrieved, as was Benjamin White. I went with them to the hospital wing but I was not allowed in because sick students do not usually respond well to seeing a ghost floating through."

"Have you heard anything?" Lily begged, desperate for information.

He nodded, "I haven't heard anything about her condition but on the way here I did hear James Potter and Sirius Black rushing through the hall to find a 'Snivellus' and teach him a lesson. I don't know who that is but I assume that it is that Slytherin boy's name?"

Lily shook her head, anger at Snape building up in her mind. He had always played the victim and there was always some reason but this one was undoubtedly unprovoked. If this could happen once, how many more times could he have lied to her? "His name might as well be," Lily said angrily as she stood up. "I hope James and Sirius give him a piece of his own medicine." She said resolutely to no one but herself. She then squared her shoulders and turned back to Gabe. Before she was even able to open her mouth, he said something.

"Go ahead. I'll meet you here the same place tomorrow?"

Lily nodded with a small smile on her face, "I would really like that Gabe." She then turned to Sir Nicolas, "I'll be heading off to the Hospital Wing. If you wouldn't mind finding Marlene McKinnon and Alice Creevey, I was supposed to spend the rest of the day with them."

"It would be my pleasure," Sir Nicolas said. With a bow, he floated through the bookcases and disappeared towards Gryffindor Tower.

As quickly as her feet could carry her, Lily arrived at the hospital wing. She opened the door and was able to easily identify Ursula's bed. Remus was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his brow furrowed with worry. Sitting cross legged on the end of the bed was Elyse. Ben was sitting in the seat next to the bed and he was gently holding onto one of Ursula's hands. Peter was sitting on the floor, resting his head back against the bed, half asleep.

Remus was the first to notice her entry, "Hello Lily."

All the others' heads snapped towards her entrance. She quickly joined the group, "How is she?"

Elyse sighed, "Her leg was sprained and she dislocated her shoulder. Thankfully it isn't her throwing arm."

"If that's all that is wrong, why is she unconscious?" Lily asked.

Ben's hand tightened around Ursula's slightly, "When she fell, she cracked her skull on one of the stairs. Madame Pomfrey was able to repair the bone but she still has a concussion and she's going to be in a lot of pain. Pomfrey wanted her to sleep so could heal quicker."

"Oh my God," Lily breathed in shock, "I feel horrible." She admitted softly.

"Why?" Remus asked curiously.

"Severus did this out of malice. Sir Nicolas told me everything and I just can't believe –" she cut off as her throat tightened. She cleared her throat and said, "I hope James and Sirius give him what he deserves."

The four friends smirked at Lily's admission but they didn't say anything. Just then Peter's stomach growled and he blushed profusely.

"Oh! You four haven't eaten dinner!"

Ben waved it off, "We'll be fine."

But Lily held her ground. "No. You four go to the kitchens and get some sleep. I'll stay with her until Madame Pomfrey kicks me out."

They were hesitant but eventually they agreed.

"If anything changes," Ben started.

"I'll send word immediately," Lily assured him.

They smiled gratefully at Lily before leaving the Hospital Wing. The room was silent after a few hours; all the other patients had fallen asleep. Lily had been kicked out by Madame Pomfrey around eight but she snuck back in almost immediately.

Lily sat by Ursula sid the entire time. There was a slowly healing cut on her hair line but it kept fading. Some of her curly black hair had escaped from the tie that someone had put in so Lily reached out and brushed the strands away. At her touch, Ursula groaned softly and her eyes fluttered open.

"Wha-?" She asked, half delirious.

"Thank God you're okay," Lily said with relief. "You're in the hospital wing. Snape tripped you when you were walking up the stairs. Do you need anything?"

Ursula's eyes were now open and thankfully clear as she nodded. "Water," she croaked.

Lily nodded and quickly conjured a cup and filled it with water. Ursula chugged the drink. "Where is everyone else?" she asked coldly.

"They were here earlier but your brother and James went to go find Snape." Lily paused a moment before she grabbed one of Ursula's hands, "Ursula, I am so sorry for what I said. Truly! I've felt horrible for the last few weeks and I know what I said is inexcusable but I was just so annoyed at James that it just slipped out. Please, forgive me."

Ursula was silent a moment and she just stared blankly at Lily. Lily felt her heartbeat speeding up as she tried to read Ursula's expression. Finally, after what felt like eternity, Ursula sighed and softened her look, "I forgive you. I guess I kind of overreacted too."

Lily smiled brightly and sat back in the chair, relief evident on her face. "I was so worried that you say you were still mad at me! I hated not talking with you in the dorm."

"Same." Ursula admitted.

Feeling freer than she had for the last few weeks since her slip, Lily asked, "So what have I missed out in the life of Ursula Black?"

Ursula was silent a moment. Then she just shrugged, "Nothing much really. You know we won the game against Ravenclaw two weeks ago. What I want to know is when you started calling James, James instead of Potter?"

Lily blushed bright red, having not realized that she had made the slip. "I don't know. I spent the day with Gabe Abbot today and he was talking about how I shouldn't hold so much anger against Ja—Potter."

Ursula raised her eyebrow, "Abbot? Gabe Abbot? The same kid who transfigured his book into a man eating mouse last year when we were supposed to make them into hats?"

"He's been working on that!" Lily defended quickly. "He just has a little trouble with that subject. But he is really kind and not arrogant and sweet and –"

"Not James." Ursula interrupted, deadpanned.

Lily blushed but nodded slightly, "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I really like Gabe. But what is going on with you and Ben? He was torn up earlier. He wouldn't let go of your hand."

Ursula had nothing to say for a good five minutes. It took her so long to respond that Lily thought that Ursula had fallen asleep. Her own eyes were just starting to flutter close when Ursula broke the silence.

"After our game against Slytherin," she began softly, "Ben found me where I was hiding."

"What happened?" Lily asked, anticipation rushing through her veins. Even in the dim light she could see Ursula turn a light pink.

She cleared her throat and admitted softly, "We kissed."

Lily jumped back a little, barely able to contain her squeal of excitement. She smiled widely at the news and said, "That's brilliant! Why haven't I heard about this yet?"

"We don't want other people to know just yet. With us being such close friends and with our friends being the same, we want to make sure we are both sure about this before

Lily shook her head, "I can't believe I didn't notice this! I've practically been stalking you the last three weeks trying to find a way to apologize."

Ursula simply shrugged, "We've been really careful to avoid people finding out. We want to see if we can still see each other and act normal around our friends. We're giving it till New Years. And since we're spending Christmas with Ben and his sister this year, I want to talk to her about if she likes the- " She was cut off by a large yawn.

"Tired?"

"Stuff it. What time is it?" Ursula asked.

Lily looked for the clock, "Almost two a.m."

"You should probably go. Madame Pomfrey makes rounds at two thirty every night. If she catches you, you'll get thrown out. Literally." Ursula explained as she snuggled closer into her blankets.

Raising her eyebrows, Lily asked, "How do you know that?"

"Marauder secret." Ursula murmured before her eyes closed completely

"What secret?" Lily asked confused. Her only answer was a light snore. Going against her instincts, Lily shook Ursula shoulder and asked the question again. This time she got a muddled word that sounded like, "map" but that was it.

Deciding that her friend was completely lost in the land of dreams and was clearly speaking of something she was dreaming, Lily stood up and left the Hospital Wing. It was only once she was back in her own bed that she realized how Ursula (and more than likely the others) would know when Madame Pomfrey kicked people out at night.

They stayed with Remus every night—that was the secret that Severus overheard them talking about. They were doing something that was illegal in Hogwarts – staying out past curfew and staying past visiting time – and it had to do with Remus – he was a werewolf. Chuckling at how simple the entire situation was, Lily nodded off to sleep, dreaming of a blonde haired, kind hearted Hufflepuff boy.


	10. Muse

_So this chapter is a fair bit shorter than the other chapters have been. This is for a few reasons. One is because there has just been so much going on in school. It's midterm week, senior night for band, and our last marching competition is this weekend. Throw in a lot of homework and that's a bad situation for trying to get time to write._

_Another factor for this chapter is that there kind of needed to be a little filler before the holiday. Trust me, this next chapter is going to be pretty long, almost definitely twice as long as this._

_The last thing that I think affected my writing is that there were so few reviews for the last couple chapters. I know that I switched one of the filters for a while but views drop by a fair few and reviews severely dropped, so I decided to bring it back here. I hope this clears up any confusion._

* * *

"I still can't believe you named it," Remus whispered as the five boys gathered around their plant table in the greenhouse. It was the last week of lessons before the holidays and everyone was getting antsy so no one would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

James smirked proudly, "It's a marauder's dream, that map is. It's only right that we name it appropriately."

"How much of it still needs to get done?" Peter asked as he struggled to pot his plant.

"Just half of the fourth and a small section of the fifth," Ben explained. "Ursula and I were going to go after dinner tonight to get the measurements for the last bit. Then we just need Elyse to finish drawing it and we'll be ready to sign it." He looked over at the table where Ursula, Elyse, Marlene, Lily, and Alice were all working together. His eyes lingered a bit too long on Ursula but the boys thankfully didn't notice.

Peter's eyes jumped to his hair line, "Sign it? We aren't putting our names on it are we?"

"No, Wormy," James said patronizingly, "we're going to sign with our nicknames." He leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes and a look of serenity settled on his face.

They all looked at him oddly and shared confused looks with each other. He wasn't moving at all and everyone once in a while his eyes would twitch but that was the only movement. It looked like he was in his own little world.

Out of nowhere, a group of Hufflepuffs, one of them being Gabe Abbot, dropped a clay pot causing a piercing shattering to ring throughout the room. James winced and reopened his furious eyes, "What the hell was that? I almost had it."

"The 'puffs dropped a pot." Remus explained.

"Damn them. We'll have to prank them later.

"What were you doing?" Peter asked as he tried to lift his pot up. He stumbled and knocked into Ben, who jumped slightly after being broken out of his staring (conveniently in Ursula's direction).

James kicked at a small pile of dirt near his feet before giving it a strong kick and sending it flying towards a table full of Hufflepuff girls. They shrieked in outrage, causing Sprout to walk over and scold James. The second she was gone he leaned forward conspiratorially, "Since I don't need to do this busy work, my brilliance will get me at least a E on my OWL, I was trying to work on transfiguring myself."

Instantly Remus protested, "James! You can't do stuff like that in class!"

"Why not?" James challenged.

"Because-" Remus started to admonish sternly when James suddenly faceplanted on the table, knocking over all of their plants and shattering them.

"Merlin on a broomstick!" Peter squealed in shock.

"Excuse me; is there a problem back there?" Sprout asked.

There indeed was a problem. James was now sporting a set of very large antlers that were just as intricate and wild as his hair was messy and out of control. By this time Sprout was gathered around the room and the entire class was laughing at James who was now covered in dragon dung compost.

"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded.

James was trying to sputter a response (his mouth was full of the dung) while his friend and the rest of the class laughed. Sprout was getting more and more upset by the minute and before it could escalate any quicker, Ursula stepped forward, "It was me, Professor."

"What?" Asked all the boys, Elyse, and Sprout.

The professor looked surprised her students' surprise. "In that case, Miss Black," She said, trying to make some sense as to why Ursula hexed her closest friend, "What spell did you use?"

"Anteoculatia" Ursula answered readily.

It was obvious that Sprout was not expecting Ursula to answer, "Why did you hex him?" She demanded with shock coloring her tone.

Ursula just shrugged, "Sorry but no can do Professor. Let's just say there is a little war going on between the lot of us." She seamlessly lied. There was no question to who she was referring to. Peter tapped Ben on the shoulder.

"Are we?"

Ben shushed him when Sprout turned around and looked at James who was now standing with the assistance of Remus and Sirius. She sighed and turned back towards Ursula, "As amusing as your little prank war may be, I must deduct ten house points and give you a detention to be served when you get back from break."

"I understand ma'am," Ursula said with a smile. It was then that Ben noticed that her eyes weren't matching the smile and the corners of her lips were too tight. Something was wrong…

He didn't find out until the period ended. Before Ursula had even finished gathering up her books, Ben was at her side, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged and continued to gather her things, "My eyes are just acting up. It's no big deal."

"No big deal!? Ursula, you need to go see Madame Pomfrey." Ben asserted. She shook her head and walked past him. He sighed and threw his messenger bag over his shoulder before rushing to catch up with her.

He put his hand on her shoulder to stop them. She spun around and glared at him but her eyes were looking a little too far to the right. "Ursula, look me in the eyes."

Ursula muttered something while looking anywhere except his face. Gently but firmly, Ben placed his hand under her chin and forced her to look up at him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the light grey smoke starting to swirl in her pupils. "We're going to the hospital wing. That is final."

"But what about—"

"I'll us notes from Ancient Runes from Remus. Merlin knows Padfoot sleeps through that class and Prongs doesn't even lift a quill."

Ursula snorted as she followed Ben, "Yet James has one of the highest grades in that class. It's so bloody unfair."

Ben shortled in agreement, "That's Prongs for you."

When they got the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey started to scold Ursula for being back in there so soon but as soon as she realized it was because of a relapse of Flammel's Disease, she was much kinder. She gave Ursula a potion that would stop any damage and repair any that had already occurred this time around. They had caught it early enough that she would be fine the following morning. The only stipulation was that she couldn't go back to class. She had to go to the dorms and rest.

As they were walking back to Gryffindor Tower, Ursula stopped, "The map!"

"What about it?" Ben asked.

"We were supposed to get the final measurements today," She pointed out.

He just shrugged and said, "I don't think that we are much good when you are in this condition."

"We?" She questioned.

He just looked over his shoulder confused, "Of course we. Did you think that I was going to leave you alone all day?"

"But—"

"No buts. We are going to spend some quality alone time with none of our friends barging in and demanding to know when we are going to get together and snog the living daylights out of each other." Ben said.

Ursula chuckled and pulled Ben to a stop. She stood on her tip toes and laid a gentle kiss upon his lips. She smiled when she leaned back. She may have not been about to see well, but she would never tire of the feeling of their lips touching.

Ben cleared his throat and started back towards Gryffindor Tower, holding onto Ursula's hand the entire way.

Once back in the Tower, he helped guide her up the stairs and into his dorm. The room was a complete mess but Ursula didn't mind since Ben's section was relatively clean. She sat down and leaned against the headboard while he put his books away in his trunk. Once he was finished with that, he sat down next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder as she nuzzled into his side. Neither of them spoke for they were just enjoying being in each other's company. A rumble of thunder in the distance surprised the both of them.

"Odd for a thunderstorm to happen so late in the year," Ursula commented as she strained her eyes to look at the rolling black clouds swooping over the surrounding mountains.

Ben nodded, "It's supposed to be a mild winter, much nicer compared to last year's."

She nodded and closed her eyes as the pitter pat of rain hitting the window lulled her into an almost sleep like state. Ben looked out the window and listened to the beat of the rain and pulled out his sheet parchment and his quill to try to write something.

It was supposed to be an inspirational moment. The lightening was beautiful and the rain was rhythmic against the stone and glass and the thunder beat its heavy drum for a fair hour yet his paper remained completely empty.

A faint humming caught Ben's attention and he saw that Ursula had woken up and she was looking out of the window like she was in a different time and place. Her gentle humming was beautiful and Ben found himself entranced by the melodious sound. It was hypnotizing. All too soon, the hauntingly gorgeous piece was over and Ben was jolted out of his haze.

Before he could even ask his question Ursula started talking.

"Both of my brothers had a horrible fear of thunderstorms growing up," she started in a reminiscent whisper. "Sirius always toughed it out but Regulus would be so terrified that he would run to my room with his blankie wrapped around him. The first time he when he was about five and I was around six, he said he came in because he was scared that 'Mommy and Daddy' would be mad at him for waking them up and he didn't want to go to Sirius because Sirius would just make fun of him. He asked if he could stay in my room that night and he promised that he wouldn't make a noise and that he just wanted to be near someone.

"I pulled back the covers and I swear I have never seen him move that fast. He would cuddle up against my side and say that he was scared of the bright flashes and the loud booms. He was scared out of his mind, the poor boy. So I made up this lullaby to sing to him every time there was storm. It worked without fail every time. Within minutes he would be asleep."

Ben smiled lovingly at her and kissed the top of her head, "You're an amazing sister."

She shook her head, "Maybe if I had—"

"Had nothing." Ben interrupted assertively. "You are the best sister that your brother could ask for. Considering the fact that you still haven't given up on him yet proves that."

Ursula lightly chuckled for a moment. "How is it possible that you always know what to say?"

Ben smirked arrogantly, "It's my charm."

This time she snorted but she reached up and kissed him. He moved his arm from around her shoulders to hold her waist while his other hand tenderly cupped her cheek. Her hands slid around to the back of his neck and her fingertips played with the locks of red hair. Her simple touch sent shivers down her spine. Ben was just about to pull her closer when noise from the Common Room traveled up the stair case and through the door.

Ursula pulled back, "I think classes are out." Her breath ticked his face and he had to physically hold himself back from leaning forward and kissing her again.

He nodded, "I think you may be right."

With great reluctance, Ursula stood up and moved to her brother's bed. She laid down under the covers and pretended to be asleep. The boys stormed loudly into the room but they were immediately silenced when Ben shushed them and pointed towards her.

"What happened?" James asked seriously. After explaining the situation, the boys were placated but still worried for her health. They knew that when Elyse relapsed, it could get bad fast or take forever.

"How long has she been asleep?" Sirius asked as he carefully placed his messenger bag next to his bed. He took in his sister's appearance and looked back towards Ben for an answer.

There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he said, "The entire time."

No one noticed Ursula's slight smirk.

It wasn't until Ben was putting his stuff away later that night when he saw that his quill had recorded Ursula's lullaby. Making sure that he carefully put the sheet away, he couldn't help but think that this was it. This was the piece he was going to write.

The day before they left for Christmas holiday, Elyse and Ursula walked into the boys' room and in the case of the latter, silently. They all gave her odd looks while she searched through Sirius's and then James's trunks.

"Um, Ursula, what are you looking for?"

She opened her mouth to speak but words didn't come out. It was a whine. They all stared wide eyed at her. Had she…?

Elyse laughed, "She's got 'er vocal chords changed. It's 'ilarious!"

Ursula growled at her while most of the boys fell into a fit of laughter. Remus just rolled his eyes at their immaturity and Ben was struck with a sudden stroke of brilliance. "Ursula, sit here." He motioned towards his bed. She did as she was asked as he went rummaging around his trunk for something. When he once again faced his friends they saw the extremely familiar quill and the pieces of parchment.

James and Sirius groaned.

"Aw, King, come on! As much as we like your playing and all, this has been getting a little obsessive." Sirius complained.

Ben just shrugged, "If you don't want to stay, you don't have to."

"We've bin tryin t'figure oot woot's in teh book 'at Snivellus keeps n' writin' in," Elyse suggested,

James nodded enthusiastically, "We haven't busted out the cloak in a while. Who's with me?" All of them raised their hands – Remus only after being on a receiving end of Elyse's glare – and they were soon all out of the dorm.

Ben chuckled, "Think they're implying something?"

Her response was a bunch of whines and a small bark. He was bent over his paper as he tried to record the sounds of her whines when Ursula suddenly stopped mid whine. His head snapped up and he shook his head, "Don't stop please."

This continued on for the next hour. When Ursula's voice finally started to change back to normal, Ben stopped his writing and looked at the movement he had written down on paper. This is exactly what he wanted to write, exactly what he was trying to portray.

"You know, you have a lovely voice, even as a dog."

She snorted, "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "A compliment. Definitely a compliment, my Muse."

She smiled wryly, "Your Muse?"

He ran his hand trough her long black tresses that she surprisingly left down, "Of course. Why, I think that together we can make some beautiful music." He said mock suggestively as he wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

Ursula laughed and pushed him away, "Prat."

"I can't deny the truth." He said with a shrug. He was still smiling however, a fact he noticed that he could never not smile or feel happy around her. "So what do you say to finding the rest of our little ragtag group of Marauders, Muse?"

She nodded and stood up. "I think they've probably caused enough mayhem today, don't cha think King? She asked as she grabbed his hand.

Ben looked down at their intertwined hands and couldn't help but wish that their friends knew about their relationship. It was only a matter of time before they all found it. Just a few more weeks and all the weeks of secrecy and lies would be worth it. It would definitely be worth it, he thought as he saw her shy smile and the blush that crept up her neck every time they held hands or kissed. It would definitely be worth it.

* * *

_So please review to let me know what you think! It is proven in psychology that reviews will actually make me write faster and better! Don't doubt science and help a fellow person out. please? I try to make it a habit to personally respond to every review I get so maybe that is a little bit of an incentive; I really want to hear what you have to say._


	11. White Christmas

_So here it is. Sorry for the delay. I won't keep you any longer so please enjoy the chapter and please review!_

* * *

When Remus walked into the Ministry's Christmas Celebration, he was taken by this year's choice of venue. The invitation had not specified where the party was, the employees were told to keep the location private. Past locations had included a muggle castle, the Ministry itself, the Old Hogsmeade Banquet Hall (before it was torn down five years ago) and Buckingham Palace. How Ben's father got the muggle Prime Minister to agree to that one, no one knows.

Oddly, the secret location wasn't the oddest thing about the invite. Usually, the invite suggested bringing family; kids, siblings, wives, parents. But this year is was mandatory that _all_ immediate family members attend. His family had not been expecting Remus to be required to attend so they had not bought him new dress robes to accommodate his most recent growth spurt. Tugging uncomfortably at the stiff neck of his father's old robes that now fit him (albeit a little too big for his slender frame), he looked around the room hoping to spot one of his friends. He knew that all except Peter and Elyse would be there for the rest of their parents currently worked or at one time worked for the Ministry.

He saw Annabelle first. She was sitting down in one of the chairs in an ethereal, flowing white gown with both twins sitting on either side of her. Know that where she was, Ben was bound to be nearby; he was tempted to walk over. Remus had just turned around to talk to his parents when he was practically tackled from behind.

"Wotcher Remus, how's it going?" James Potter's jovial voice greeted him.

Remus winced, still recovering from the full moon a few days ago, but smiled all the same, "Better if you would stop abusing me every time you see me."

"Where's the fun in that, Moony?" James questioned. Realizing that Remus's parents were right there, James turned towards them, "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. May I steal your son for a little while?" He asked politely

Barely able to conceal a smile, Mr. Lupin nodded and put his arm around his wife, "I think we can do without him for a little while."

James smirked, "Excellent." He began to drag Remus backwards towards another part of the ballroom. Remus mouthed, "Save me" to his parents but they just laughed and walked away. "So Moony, I have a bit of a surprise for you."

"Wha-?"

But for the second time in less than fifteen minutes, Remus was almost knocked to the ground. The hit was gentler, however, and he was stunned to see the bright shock of red hair. "Elyse?"

She disentangled herself and he was met by her sparkling celery green eyes, "'Ello Moony." She greeted.

Remus smiled happily, not expecting to see his muggleborn friend until the holidays at Ben's house. "What are you doing here? I thought only Ministry officials and family could get in?" He asked James.

James stuck his hands in the pockets of his dress robes and shrugged casually, "Do you think I would follow those rules? But if anyone asks, Elyse is my cousin."

"Always with the answer, eh Prongs?" Remus said sarcastically.

"You know it," James said as he puffed his chest out slightly.

Elyse laughed at his antics and hit him in the stomach, "Let's try ter keep teh ego reasonable."

A loud bell sounded and people started walking towards the round tables set around the large dance floor. Remus looked lost, scanning the crowd frantically for his parents (there were about a thousand people milling about) but James waved him to follow, "Your family is at my table. It's over here."

True to what he said, James led Remus over to the right table. Already sitting around it was both of their parents and another familiar couple. Andromeda Tonks and her husband smiled when the trio walked over.

"Wotcher Remus!" Ted greeted with a bright smile while he struggled to hold onto his young daughter. Nymphadora turned around and when she saw Remus, her hair turned blonde and her eyes turned amber.

Mrs. Lupin was astounded, "Your daughter…she _changed_," she said awed.

Andromeda bristled with pride as she struggled to hold onto her rambunctious child, "Nymphadora is a metamorphosis. She can change her appearance at will. As of now, she isn't able to control it."

As if to prove her point, Nymphadora turned her hair black and shorted it to look like James but turned her eyes green to match Elyse. She lost interest in that and looked like she was about to start crying but found the silverware interesting until she dropped it. She giggled and began to play with the napkin.

"This is Ursula's goddaughter, correct?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Uswa!" Nymphadora shouted and changed her appearance to match her Godmother's. The adults laughed at her enthusiasm.

Remus noticed then that the missing three of their group was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the twins and Ben?"

James pointed towards the high table at the front, "Ben has to sit with his dad and the rest of the higher up Ministry officials."

Indeed, that was where Ben was. He was looking every bit the Minister's son in a smart, jet black dress robes. Right beside him was his sister and her fiancée and he seemed to be having an active conversation with the other son of some high up Ministry official on his left.

"What about Ursula and Sirius?" Remus asked.

Elyse was the one that answered, "Their motha's been keepin 'em on a tight leash."

Following her subtle hand movement Remus found the twins looking miserable, angry, and agitated. One parent was sitting on either side of the twins and whenever Ursula would open her mouth to say something, she would just noticeably flinch and close her mouth again.

Remus was about to say something when Minister White stood up and tapped his champagne flute to get everyone's attention. The chatter died down and Jay White began, "First off, I would like to welcome all Ministry officials and their families on this beautiful December night. Let's just be glad none of us had to make the trip in last year's weather," there were a few chuckles as people remember their trip in the blizzard of last year. "And please offer a warm round of applause for our Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Millicent Bagnold, for arranging all the details for tonight." He nodded his head towards Bagnold who was sitting a little farther way down the main table.

Minister White waited for the applause to end before he put his champagne flute down on the table. He put his hands on his pockets and began to walk slowly behind the people sitting at the head table.

"I know most of you are probably curious as to why I requested that all family members must attend tonight. I apologize if it was any inconvenience but there is reasoning behind my seemingly frivolous demand. But I would like to tell you all a little tale that I think will explain my reasoning.

"It happened last year. A young witch was home from Hogwarts on holiday when she was innocently walking through her village with her family. It was a usual day. But then Dementors and Death Eaters attacked her home. In total twenty-five lives were destroyed that day and countless others felt the losses and pain. My daughter, Annabelle," he put his hand on her shoulder, "was one of the first Aurors to arrive at the scene and the tale she told me of the fight astounded me. For those of you who don't know or don't remember, the witch was safely surrounded by Aurors when she realized that he little brother was lost somewhere in the village. Without any thought for herself she ran into to fight and risked her own life to save her brother's. She was only fourteen at the time and she was able to hold her own against trained wizards and witches and protect her brother. Even after she was gravely injured, her only thoughts were only for her family's safety. I am proud to say she belongs to my former house, Gryffindor.

"But all of this got me thinking. This witch I knew personally, she is a close friend of my son's," he now placed his hand on Ben's shoulder, "and he later told me of other deeds similar that all his friends did for each other and their families. It struck me that if these seven teens could be so loyal to each other and by extension their family, why couldn't the Ministry?

"That is why I called all the families together. We are one people who have multiple purposes. Arthur Weasley isn't just pioneer in the Ministry by founding the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. He is the nephew of Ignatius Prewett whose brother-in-law Orion Black has served the Ministry tirelessly on the Wizengamot for the last eighteen years. The degrees that separate us are not great and the connections that keep us together are what keep us sustained. We are a family and it is high time that some family members to come back home."

There was a moment of silence in the ballroom. Ben looked at Ursula and Sirius who were both sitting with their heads held high amidst the glares and sneers of their family. Chancing a look, Ursula looked up at the head table at Ben. He furrowed his brow when he saw her Slytherin themed dress robes. She subtly smirked and winked at him before moving her foot slightly back and lifting the edge of her dress up a few inches revealing Gryffindor red shoes. He laughed and shook his head.

"You two are disgusting," Annabelle muttered. "It makes me sick."

Ben snorted, "Now you know how I've felt the last eight years."

"Gideon and I aren't as bad as you two."

"Nope. You're worse."

Annabelle swatted him over the head, "Cheeky brat."

"You love me anyway," Ben teased.

"It's debatable."

Their banter was cut short when the food appeared in front of them. The dinner was fabulous. As a favor Albus Dumbledore offered the service of the Hogwarts House Elves to prepare the feast, ensuring the perfect food for the night. Current students and alumni of decades past all enjoyed the reminder of the place almost all of them called home for seven years.

Once the last course was finished, Minister White stood up again.

"I hope that you all enjoyed your dinner and I invite you to stay for some entertainment offered by the Hogsmeade Symphony tonight. Please, feel free to suggest requests; chances are they know it. Enjoy!" He started clapping and nodded towards the area the symphony was sitting. The musicians picked up their instrument and once the first chord of the song was played, Minister White walked over to his wife, bowed, and offered his hand to her. She said something to him that caused him to laugh. She stood up and walked hand in hand to the ballroom floor and the pair opened the dance floor.

Ursula was sitting sandwiched between her parents, looking enviably as her friends all waited on the edge of the dance floor to wait while the rest of the main Ministry officials and their older children opened the dance. James was standing next to Elyse was seemed to be quickly explaining a dance to her. Next to them, Remus was talking to a fifth year Ravenclaw named Stacy whom he sometimes acquainted himself with.

"Excuse me," she – and the entire table – jumped at the unexpected voice behind them, "May I have this dance," Ben asked Ursula, taking her hand in his and kissing the back it. His lips may have lingered a second to long but Ursula had an idea that it was not accidental at all. He looked up through his lashes at her with mirthful eyes, not looking at any of the rest of her astounded and mildly dazed family.

She raised an eyebrow but nodded all the same. She got up and smoothed her hideous skirt down and didn't spare her mother or father another look. Ursula tightly grasped Ben's hand and followed him as he led her onto the dance floor.

James couldn't hide his obnoxious smirk when he saw the pair of them together. As discreetly as she could, she glared at him and stuck her tongue out. That just made him laugh out right. Elyse shot her a thumbs up and winked, and in reply Ursula rolled her eyes.

Ursula turned to Ben, "What are you doing?"

He raised an eyebrow as he placed his one hand on her waist, "What am I doing? I was under the impression I was asking my girlfriend to open the Midwinter Ball with me."

She shushed him and looked frantically around to make sure that no one heard him. Once they began joining in on the dancing, she leaned forward a little bit and hissed, "Can you control yourself?! We agreed not to tell people yet."

He shrugged and tightened his grip on her waist to lift her. Once she was back down on her feet, he shrugged, "It's not my fault that I want to brag to the world about my amazing girlfriend."

She blushed slightly, "I just need some more time to feel comfortable telling people." She admitted.

His heart skipped a beat and he almost stumbled on his footwork, "What? Why? Do you not feel the same way or—"

"No! No, it's not that. I really fancy you, Ben; more than I probably have anyone in my life but that's the thing. I've never felt this way and I need time to sort this out. Remember, I grew up where if your feelings weren't the right kind, they were literally beat out of you."

"I'm not going to push you into anything you aren't ready for. Merlin knows I've waited four years already for you. You just need to trust me," Ben said lovingly.

"I do trust you." Ursula said with conviction.

Ben smirked slightly, "Yeah? In that case, will you let me lead?"

Ursula laughed and nodded. With that cue, Ben literally swept her away with the music. The second the music ended however, Ursula felt her mother's claw like grip on Ursula's shoulder. "Excuse my _daughter_," she sneered as if it actually pained her to say that, "but she must get going."

Before Ben could protest, Ursula was practically being dragged away from Ben. He went to follow after her but lost her the in sea of people. He groaned in frustration and before he felt a hand on his own shoulder. He turned around to see his sister standing there.

"Come on, Benny Boy, I need to sit down because my ankles can't handle this and you can tell me all how you finally grew a pair and asked her out."

Frantically, Ben looked for an escape. His friends were on the other side of the dancing area and Gideon, Fabian, Frank, and Benjy were all looking relieved and happy that they no longer had to deal with a temperamental, almost full term pregnant woman.

He had no escape, he realized. Resigned to his fate, he now willingly followed his sister towards the tables. It was just what he wanted to deal with; a hungry, aching older sister who was demanding answers from him about his love life. The end was near. Deciding if he was going to die, he should at least go with his dignity intact, he stopped shuffling his feet and held his head high.

The rest of the night, neither Ursula nor Sirius was able to break away from their mother's grasp. Everyone once in a while, one of the boys with Elyse would purposely dance close towards where the Blacks were to make sure they were still in one piece.

Barely an hour passed before the symphony stopped playing their array of muggle and wizard classical music. A brisk traditional Irish jig was their choice to liven up the dance floor. Elyse's eyes went wide and froze in Remus's arms (she had been dancing a waltz with him). She broke free of his grasp and ran across the floor, ignoring the fact that she was in fact wearing a floor length blush colored dress.

She came to a skidding halt in front of the horrified Mrs. Black and the shocked Ursula. Elyse smiled widely and grabbed Ursula's hand, "Let's dance!" She shouted before she tugged Ursula free of her mother.

The pair of girls mockingly tried to follow the traditional partner dance but it ended up with the pair of them running into people and skipping around in large circles. James grabbed Elyse's camera off the table and took a picture of their antics knowing that it was one of those moments that Elyse would want. When he brought the camera down however, his enjoyment of watch his friends make fools out of themselves apparated out of his body.

Stalking purposely towards her daughter from the other side of the room was Mrs. Black and she looked murderous. Thinking quickly, he grabbed something from his jacket and ran towards Ursula and Elyse. He grabbed Ursula's arm and pulled her away from the other girl.

He made it appear that he was giving her a hug but he was really discreetly handing off a small hand mirror into her hand. He leaned towards her ear and quickly whispered, "Just say my name to get it to work. If you need to get out, use it."

Just as abruptly as he grabbed her, he let her go. She looked at him in confusion but didn't argue him. She hid the mirror up her large, medieval style sleeves. Mrs. Black grabbed the top of Ursula's arm tight enough to bruise and hissed just loud enough for James to hear "Dancing with the Blood-Traitor is one thing but dancing with a mudblood is another."

Both Ursula and James opened their mouths to defend their muggle born friend from that vicious and dirty name but she apparated out with Ursula quicker than he had anticipated. He saw Mr. Black doing the same to his two sons just out of the corner of his eyes.

In the back of his mind, he knew it was improbable but he sincerely hoped that the Black twins didn't just show up in one un hurt piece at Annabelle's in three days but he knew there was a chance that after that stunt, Ursula might not even show up at all. But if that was the case, she had the mirror now. He could talk to them without the go between owl. That eased his mind but just barely.

He caught Ben's eyes from across the room and seeing the terrified look in them, James knew that Ben was falling deeper and deeper for their friend. Both of them loved her but in different ways. The effect on them however, was still the same. As much as it pained James to admit, he, the brave Gryffindor who laughed in the face of danger, was scared for the twins' lives.

And that was a feeling that no friend should ever have.

When Ben woke up the morning after Christmas, worry and dread filled him. He had heard nothing from neither of the twins or James with any news. With a heavy heart, he slid out of bed. After getting ready for the day, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a small velvet box. He held it in his hands, moving from one to the other, before hiding it in his drawer.

Once downstairs, Ben was greeted by Gideon and Annabelle. The latter was wearing a large jumper that didn't make her look as pregnant as she really was. It was odd, he noted, when she was sitting across from him, that he could see her shirt move every once in a while from the force of his nephew's kicks.

"So what has Molly said about when she thinks you're going to go into labor?" Ben asked.

Annabelle shrugged, "She thinks early January, the second week at the latest. My bet is hedging on the second half."

"Are you still not going to tell me who the godfather is going to be?"

"Just shut it and go wait for your friends to show up." Annabelle shooed him out the of kitchen.

Muttering to himself about secretive siblings, Ben went into the living room just in time to see it light up and James Potter stumbled through. James quickly cut to the chase, "I haven't heard from either of them. Have you?"

Ben shook his head, "No news might be good news in this case." He knew that was the biggest lie he had ever spoken. This was the _last_ case where that was best. It was only when they were okay when the rest of them got news.

James snorted and shook his head sadly, "You're lying to yourself." He said, sounding unusually wise.

"So what if I am?!" Ben challenged. "If I didn't then I would be going bloody insane! I care –" he cut himself off before he said something that he didn't want James to know.

"Care 'bout who?"

Both boys jumped to see Elyse standing in front of the fireplace. James ran his hand through his hair, "Ursula. Neither of us have heard from her."

"She's fine."

"How do you know that? Did she write to you?" Ben asked.

"No, that's impossible!" James interjected, "I tried talking to her through the mirror and she didn't respond!"

Elyse moved into the room and sat down on the couch, "You don't have the right mirror."

"What?" James asked.

"What mirror are you talking about?" Ben asked, utterly confused.

"Stop." Elyse said forcefully when James tried to continue questioning her. "We're all on different pages. Yeh need ter explain teh mirrors ter Ben 'nd then I'll explain woot I did."

James ran his hand through his hair in agitation, "Fine." He turned towards Ben and began, "When I got home from break this year and I saw Ursula's and Sirius's rooms, I realized that they had no way to communicate with their real home. So I made three mirrors that could communicate between the three of us. All one of us has to do is say the other's name and call with go through the intended mirror. That way, no matter where they are or if their owl is taken away or not, they have a way to safety. Another plus is that now that the teachers have figured out never to give us the same detention, we can cause more mischief."

"Only yeh would think o'that." Elyse joked.

James ignored her comment, "Explain why my mirror didn't work." He demanded.

Elyse delved into her story. When James first took her to his house to get ready for the ball, he told her about making the mirrors after she found one. Later that night, she saw him slip something into Sirius's pocket and assumed that it was one of the mirrors. When James ran up to them when Ursula and she were dancing, she heard his instructions and once they were back at the Potter's, she searched for his mirror. While he was taking a shower, she snuck into his room and made a duplicate of his mirror. She took the mirror that could communicate through the other two.

Once home she took out the mirror and said Ursula's name looking into the mirror. Seconds later, Ursula appeared on the mirror in perfect health.

"So she's alright?" Ben asked for clarification.

"Hell yeah I am."

Once again, everyone jumped to see that Ursula, Sirius, and Peter had joined them.

"What the hell! King, why is your floo so bloody silent!?" James asked, hitting Ben on the shoulder.

He flinched and rubbed his shoulder while glaring at James, "Like I know; this isn't my house!" He gave James a look before he walked over to the other three and greeted Sirius and Peter with a clap on the shoulder and Ursula with a with a hug. It had been much too long since he felt her touch. Her arms tightened around his waist before she let go and smiled at him.

James shoved him out of the way and grabbed Ursula's shoulders. He scanned her up and down and then forcibly spun her around once. Ben wanted to intervene; he didn't like James manhandling his girlfriend but he had to restrain himself.

"Where did she hurt you?" James questioned.

Ursula smirked, "She didn't."

"Why didn't she?" Ben asked, flabbergasted.

Sirius laughed and threw his arm around his sister, "It's brilliant actually. Right before break, our dear mother and father got a letter saying that if Sissy or I show up with a single scratch on us, then…well, they didn't actually tell us what would happen but we know that it was signed by Eva and Charlus Potter, Alphard Black, and Jay White. That scared the hell out of them."

"Wicked," Peter said awed at the power names just mentioned. But then a thought hit him. The Potters and Alphard Black made sense but the Minister didn't. He had no close, personal relation with either of the Black twins, except through his son. But even then, the Minister has never done anything for any of Ben's other friends. Something was going on between the pair, something that Peter didn't like.

Ursula's mind was working on a similar path as Peter's. She thought that they agreed not to tell others about their relationship but had he told his father. Ben knew what she was thinking and subtly shook his head.

Just then the floo lit up again and Remus showed up in fireplace. He brushed off some soot before he raised an eyebrow at the rest of the group, "Why are we all standing around? I brought a broom to play Quidditch," he pulled the broom from behind him. "I thought we were going to have a game in a near by field?"

Fifteen minutes later, after traveling through a field and a lecture from Annabelle about being safe and not getting someone killed, they were standing in a circle and trying to figure out who the team captains were.

"I vote the team members get to be captain," James said.

Remus shook his head, "That's not fair. Besides, there are three of you. We only need two teams. Let's go oldest-youngest."

"So Ben and James," Ursula said as she shoved the pair forward, "pick you teams."

Ben questioned, "Who goes first?"

She smirked, "Let the baby go first."

James ruffled his hair and mock glared at her, "Even after hearing that comment, I want Ursula."

"Hell no!" Elyse exclaimed, "It's not fair ter 'ave teh two best chasers on teh same team!"

"She's got a point," Peter pointed out.

"Fine," James grumbled, "I guess I'll take Padfoot then."

Everyone turned to Ben. He crossed his arm and nodded at Ursula, "Muse."

"Lucky."

"Moony."

That left Peter standing alone. He squirmed awkwardly under their gaze.

"I guess that leaves you as referee. So how are we playing this? One chaser, beater, keeper? Two chasers and keeper?" Ben questioned.

"Two chasers and keeper." James decided. He grabbed the Quaffle and tossed it to Peter before shooting up into the air with his team following. Once both teams were airborne, Peter tossed the ball up and each player took their position; Ben and Sirius as Keepers and the rest as chasers.

Ursula, Ben, and Remus's team was winning by a close margin when suddenly, Elyse found herself pulled from the forest protected forest to a warmly decorated kitchen.

_Ben was standing in front of a kitchen counter top, chopping up some vegetables. His golden wedding band glittered in the fall sunlight breaking through the window. There was a scar on the right side of his neck and when he pushed the sleeves of his jumper to his forearms, it revealed nasty, yellowing bruises around his wrists. _

_The fire in the adjacent living area suddenly turned green and a messy haired man stepped out of the fireplace. He brushed the soot off his shirt and smiled in greeting, "'Ello, King. How's life treating you?" He asked with a sly grin as he stole an apple from the table._

_Ben rolled his eyes and continued cutting the vegetables, "You practically live here – you know how life is."_

"_What about Lysie? I know she was really sick for a while?"_

"_It was rough on the wife for a while," Ben admitted. "But you she's stronger than we give her credit for sometimes."_

"_We're just cautious, an effect of this damn war, but our reasons are justified, especially after that Flammel scare with her a few months ago," James pointed out_

"_I'm not denying we've changed. It's just with losing so many people..." Ben trailed off sadly._

_James nodded and then grabbed a piece of paper that had the Hogwarts seal on it. He opened the already broken seal and read the letter. His jaw dropped slightly. "What?" James asked, shocked._

_Ben, who had turned around to check something on the stove, looked over his shoulder. He sighed and nodded, "I know. That was my reaction first."_

"_Have you talked to her yet about this?" James asked in a hushed voice. _

"_I don't know how to tell her!" Ben said. "Especially with me being forced to leave the department now, this isn't exactly something I want to bring up to her."_

"_King, mate, you know you could have gone to Paddy, Wormy, or I about this," James said, waving the letter around._

_Ben's eyes narrowed, "What about Remus?_

_James met his hard gaze head on, "You know this is killing me too but there are facts Ben! Only five other people knew where they were three years ago; you, me, Sirius, Peter, and Remus; one of them was killed Ben! Our friend – no sister! - was murdered! Sirius, you, and I would never give go to the other side. Peter is one hundred percent devoted to us. I don't want to say it but Remus was—"_

"_If you don't want to say it," Ben said sharply, "then don't. I don't want to hear any more of this. I need to go check on Lysie anyway." Ben threw the towel that was on his shoulder onto the counter._

_Ben started to walk towards the door, his gait was off, almost like he wasn't able to move his one ankle, and James stepped to the side. At the last moment however, James reached out and grabbed Ben's shoulder to stop him, "It's not that I don't trust him. It's just that—"_

"_You're torn. Someone had to be responsible but it isn't Remus. I would swear on my life." Ben said passionately._

"_Damn war," James muttered and kicked the side of the cabinet, "Is this what I've been lowered down to? Second guessing the trust I have in the guy that I became an illegal animagus for?"_

"_War changes people." Ben admitted softly._

"_It doesn't change me," James said before storming out of the room._

_Ben stared at the door James walked out of, "Um, Prongs? Where are you going?"_

"_I'M GOING TO TALK TO YOUR WIFE," he shouted back._

"ELYSE!" James shouted in the wind. Elyse snapped back into reality and saw that she was now flying just over the tops of the trees. Her friends were all sides of her, forming a circle around her, guiding her over the trees.

"We need to turn back. Anna wanted us back ten minutes ago." Ben said over the wind.

Elyse nodded and as one form, they turned around and flew back as far as they could. When they landed, they found Peter sitting on a log bench near the edge of the field.

"So who was the winner, Wormy?" James asked.

"260 to 200 Ben." Peter said.

"WHAT!?" James shouted in shock while Ursula, Ben, and Remus celebrated their win. "That can't be right!"

Ursula sauntered past James and flicked her hair over her shoulder, "What is that I hear Moony? Could that be a _loser_," she taunted with a smirk.

James's nostril's flared and he charged at Ursula. She laughed and took off running towards the house. When Molly Weasley stepped out of the local muggle grocery store, Ursula shouted hello as she ran past, startling the mother of two. Molly barely avoided being plowed over by James. Quickly, double checking to make sure no muggle was looking and making sure no more teens were there to run her over, she turned on her heels and apparated to The Burrow.

When the remaining five they found Ursula and James laying in the snow flicking snow at each other as they both tried to catch their breath. Ursula sat up when she heard their footsteps. Ben couldn't stop the smile on his face when he saw her. Her hair was covered in white snow, contrasting with her jet back. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and exercise. Her bright silver eyes seemed to sparkle and Ben noticed there were some small snowflakes stuck to her eyelashes.

He didn't notice that she stood up and was now standing in front of Remus.

"Let me take those," she said taking her broom and the one Remus borrowed from Annabelle. She turned towards Ben, "Could you go unlock the shed. We should put these away before dinner, don't you think?"

Ben nodded and grabbed his broom and the one that Elyse borrowed. He slung them over his shoulders and motioned for Ursula to follow him and he told the others to go inside to start getting ready for dinner.

The pair walked in silence and put the brooms away. Once they were all safely in their spots, Ursula took a step towards Ben and grabbed his gloved hands, "That was a good game, no?"

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "I thought you played brilliantly."

"I can't take all the credit. We did have a phenomenal keeper."

"Tell me more about this phenomenal keeper."

Ursula smirked and tapped her finger on her chin. "Well, you see, this keeper is unlike any other. He's a Gryffindor just like me and he is brilliant at Defense. His dad might just be the Minister for Magic but I hear that he is not uppity at all. Then of course, he has the brightest red hair that I've ever seen. When the sun hits it just right, it can look like it's on fire. In my personal opinion, he is a pretty attractive bloke. And then sometimes, when we snog, he runs this hand through my hair and-" she gasped when he captured her lips with his.

Soon enough, his arms were wrapped tightly around her and hers were tightly holding onto the front of his jacket. In the back of his mind, Ben thought about how nice it was to snog a girl who was tall enough that he didn't have to practically bend over to kiss. With her just barely being three inches shorter than him, she was the perfect height to fit in his arms.

"My, my, my, this is certainly an interesting development," a voice drawled from the door. They jumped apart and saw Sirius casually leaning against the doorframe. "I come out here to tell you that dinner is ready and I find my dear sister and my best friend snogging!" He shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Sirius Orion, I swear if you tell anyone…" Ursula left the threat open.

Sirius just calmly raised his eyebrow, "Busting out the middle name- this is serious, pardon the pun."

"_Sirius_." She growled.

He held his hands up innocently, "Do you think that I'm going to rat you out to everyone? I have more tact than that. Though I would like to speak to King for a moment, Sissy."

Ursula looked at Ben, silently asking if he was okay with that. He nodded. "I'll be fine, Muse. Just go ahead without me."

She nodded and with one last warning look to her brother, she walked outside the shed and into the house. Sirius just looked at Ben with the most serious expression Ben had ever seen. Finally, Sirius said, "If you ever hurt her, you will die. Understand?"

Ben nodded, just as serious as Sirius. Sirius then cracked a smile. "Good. Now let you know that I am happy for both of you. You two deserve each other."

"Thanks Padfoot. That means a lot," Ben admitted, knowing that Sirius was the only family that Ursula truly and unconditionally loved and trusted.

"So what's with Sissy's nickname? Muse? How did she get that?" Sirius questioned as they walked into the house.

Ben shrugged, "I just realized it a few weeks ago. I couldn't figure out what to write for my composition but then I heard her humming something one day. From then on she was my inspiration, my muse."

Sirius fake gagged. Ben shoved him into the side of the door before they walked into the kitchen. The both of them laughed and Ben saw that Ursula physically relaxed and smiled. When Ben sat down next to her, she looked around the table to try to think of something to distract Sirius, knowing that he would drop vague hints and make innuendoes with everything. It was then that Ursula noticed something on Elyse's hand.

"Who gave you that?" Ursula asked, pointing at the ring.

Elyse had a hard time looking up because Ursula and Ben were sitting next to each other, a little closer than everyone else. Her visions confused her and worried her. She didn't want to lose Ursula as a friend but so far, neither of them had shown up in her future visions. It was driving her insane. But she still answered with a slight blush, "It's a claddagh ring from Patrick. Before you say anything, he picked out the emerald."

"Emerald? Why would the muggle pick that?" Sirius questioned.

Elyse blushed brighter, "He said that he loved my eyes and since they are green, this is the closest he could get."

"That is disgusting," James fake gagged.

Ursula raised an eyebrow, "And what did you get Lily for Christmas?"

"A poem about how beautiful…her eyes… sod off." James growled when he realized he had been worked into a corner.

The table laughed at his expense. After dinner was done, Annabelle stood up and said, "Alright, your parents want most of you back early tomorrow morning. Boys and Elyse, go get the presents from upstairs. Ursula, come help me in the kitchen.

Ursula shared a confused and slightly terrified glance with Ben. He reciprocated the look and nodded to the unasked question. While the rest went up the stairs (Gideon joined them to go get something from his room) Ursula followed Annabelle to the kitchen.

"I noticed the change the second he got home," Annabelle began. "I couldn't figure out what it was but when I saw you two dancing the other night, I knew. I cornered him right afterwards and he admitted everything. I must say, the story is definitely one that going to be interesting to tell once you two decide to finally tell everyone. But he mentioned something about what people would of the Minister's son dating the daughter of the Blacks. Well let me tell you what one of the White's think. I think you are one of the best damn things to happen to my brother. Please, don't hurt him."

"I promise."

Annabelle nodded with a serious expression on her face. A thought she had instantly sparked her curiosity, "James was mentioning the game you played. Ben played Keeper tight?" When Ursula nodded, Annabelle continued, "So how was he? He always claims he is horrible but I get the idea otherwise."

Ursula laughed, "He is a natural. He is far from horrible."

"That little shit!" Annabelle cursed.

"Who is a little shit?" Gideon questioned.

"My little brother. Apparently he is a natural Keeper. He always claimed he had no talent! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." With her mind made up, Annabelle waddled from the room and shouted up the stairs that he had two seconds to explain himself before she gave him Veritaserum.

Later that night, after they exchanged presents, Ursula stood and grabbed her hand-drawn gift from Elyse. Somehow Elyse had been able to hide the portrait from Ursula in their room for the last two months. It was a head shot portrait of each of them, four on top, three on bottom, separated by a red and gold blended background. The drawings were so perfect that Ursula half expected them to start moving like a photograph.

Deciding that she didn't want to risk anything happening to it (Peter's new paint bombs worried her) she grabbed it and started to walk up the stairs. She didn't expect anyone to follow because each of them were wrapped up in their present; James a book from Sirius that had small slips of paper in it from Elyse, a new stash of muggle and magical chocolate for Remus, Ben got some new book about musical wizards, Elyse was looking into her new crystal ball, and Sirius was wearing a black leather jacket and was reading a magazine about some fancy muggle bike that had an engine.

She put the painting in her room and just stepped in the hallway when Ben appeared at the top of the stairs. "I have another present for you. Follow me."

He stepped into his room and walked over to his dresser. Ursula walked in and sat down on the edge of his bed while he searched. He found what he was looking for and sat down next to her. He held out his hand and offered the unassuming box wrapped in red and gold.

Ursula carefully tore away the wrapping paper to reveal a plain black velvet box. She looked up at him curiously but he motioned for her to continue opening it. It was a necklace. A gold oval locket with all seven nicknames around the edge etched onto the surface. In the middle there were rubies placed to anyone else would have been randomly placed but Ursula instantly recognized it as Ursa Major.

"It's beautiful," she said in awe as she gently touched the cover.

Ben reached over and held his finger over the latch, "That's not even the best part. Listen."

He pressed the button and the locket suddenly became a music box. Music floated from out of the small locket and filled the room with the rich tones of Ben's violin. Her jaw dropped at the thoughtfulness of the gift. But then she realized that she recognized the song, as a matter of fact, she had been the original composer of that song.

"It's called Brother's Lullaby. It's the first movement of the Muse Symphony I am writing." Ben admitted.

Ursula's jaw dropped to the ground as she listened to his rendition of her lullaby. "I can't believe— I mean this is – wow." She said, overwhelmed. "It's beautiful."

Ben smiled and cupped one of her cheeks with his hand, "Not as beautiful as you." He said softly before tenderly kissing her.

At that moment, Ursula's heart melted. No one had ever showered her with so much love. They may have only been fifteen and she knew that she was nowhere near ready to say those words; she couldn't deny that she could see herself one day saying those words to a certain red haired boy. But thoughts of the future didn't plague her mind at that moment. No, all she could think about was the boy in front of her. Distantly, they heard their friends getting closer and closer to the stairs so they broke apart, breathless. Ursula stood up and adjusted her blouse while Ben ran his hand through his hair to try to fix it.

She just walked out of the room when she stopped outside of the door. She turned around and smiled, "Happy Christmas, Benjamin." She blew him a kiss before turning around and walking to her room.

Ben pretended to catch the kiss and hold it close to his heart. He knew that she wouldn't hear him but he none the less whispered, "Happy Christmas, Love."

* * *

_I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. It was tricky to write because there was so much that I wanted included and I needed to find ways to make it flow. The ending was a bit cheesy but there's a reason so if you wait until the next chapter, I assure you that it will kind of make sense. The next chapter should be up by Friday since I already have half of it written.  
_

_To Tori Weasley: Thank you so much for the kind and long review! My mouth literally dropped when I saw it. I'm glad that you love this series. I also hoped that you liked the Sirius walking in on Ursula and Ben moment. I actually have not thought of couple names for them but I really like Bensula. On my own, I would have never thought of that. For the other pair I was thinking Elick but Palyse is something different too. I don't know, it took me forever to think of nicknames for the Marauders Map, let alone think of couple names but I am kind of flattered that you took time to think of that.  
_

_To fredw: Thank you for the review! If you love James and Lily's relationship, I can promise that there is going to much more of that in the coming few years so be ready for it. And Ursula and Ben are going to go through a transformation in their relationship as well. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story! p.s. I'm sure that your writing is wonderful and unique and all your own. :)  
_

_Please, if you would be so kind, please leave a review right below here. I was highly flattered by the reviews I got for the last chapter. I know last week was a bad example since it took me over two weeks to write it, but reviews really do help me write faster. It will just take a minute of your time! The reviews actually help me take the story in a direction that is pleasing to you as the the reader to read and for me as the writer to write.  
_

_That is all. Have a wonderful day and if you are in America and you read this before the sixth of Novemever, go out and exercise your right and vote!  
_


	12. All the King's Men

Ben looked around the house that he had been living at for the last two weeks and couldn't help but think that this had slowly become home to him, compared to the house he actually grew up in.

"Getting nostalgic already, kid?" Annabelle teased when she saw his expression.

"It feels like home," he said as he looked around the living room for what would be the last time before the term ended.

Annabelle nodded and absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. She groaned slightly when the baby kicked her in side but didn't complain. Ben noticed though and asked, "Kicking?"

She nodded, "Up a storm." She finished. "Reminds me of another little ginger haired baby that liked to kick its mom."

Ben raised an eyebrow, "I used to do that?"

"Hell, whenever I put my hands on Mom's stomach, you started kicking up a storm! Mom told me it was because you liked me and you wanted to play. I thought it was because you were trying to beat me up."

"See how well that worked," Ben mumbled sarcastically.

Annabelle rolled her eyes, "You know, you really should respect your elders. Besides, I'm having a child in the next two weeks, you should be especially kind to me."

Ben shrugged, "I don't know. I might be able to behave a little better if I knew that I was the godfather."

She sighed and went to sit down to allieviate the pain in her back, "Ben, I don't know how to break it to you. We picked Fabian as godfather." She saw her brother's crushed expression so she continued, "Don't worry though. Gid and I compromised. Fabian will be godfather but our son's middle name will be Benjamin. Sound fair?"

The smile almost broke his face in two, "You're naming him after me?" Pride swelled up in his chest. His nephew would have his name, Fabian might get the title of godfather but Ben's name was _in_ the kid's name. That was the ultimate honor.

"Just partially, don't let your ego blow up too much."

Ben stood up and said, "I'm honored," and went to hug his sister. She had just stood up when there was a slight knock on the door that broke up the sibling moment. Gideon stood at the door, "We have to apparate to King's Cross now. The train leaves in fifteen minutes."

Annabelle sighed but grabbed her brother in a hug. "I'm not going anywhere soon, Ben. You can be godfather to the next one," she promised.

He laughed and gave her one last hug before he grabbed onto his trunk and Gideon's arm. Annabelle waved just before he disappeared from the living room.

* * *

Being back at Hogwarts was like being back at home for Ursula. The second that she stepped into the dorm and the familiar mixed smell of all of their shampoo and perfume that was more than likely embedded in the walls hit her nose, she felt calmed. Spending the last week with the Potters had been wonderful and she truly loved being there but there was just something about her dorm room that she would forever adore. Plus she would take living with Elyse, Lily, Alice, and Marlene over living with James and Sirius any day. Not that she didn't love her brother and all-but-blood-brother but she liked living with the girls better at times.

"Ursula, you know you can walk in the room right?" Marlene asked sarcastically while she unpacked her trunk from the holidays.

"Really? It's not like this is my room or anything," Ursula said sarcastically as she did move into the room. She rolled her eyes and pulled her trunk over to her bed and started to unpack.

Elyse on the other side of the room asked Alice, "So woot were yeh sayin' aboot yeh's break?" Alice then launched into a story about her neighbor, Lorelei Glassman, a Ravenclaw in their year, was dating Xenophilius Lovegood. It was not a surprise to most people since they were both out there but Lorelei was a bit more reserved than the far out Xeno.

While listening to the story and witnessing her friend's reaction to the new couple, Ursula thought about how all the other girls would react. Lily already knew and her reaction had been not exactly what she was expecting. Ursula knew that she could count on Marlene would probably have the most reserved reaction, Alice would squeal so shrilly it would cause the wrackspurts (a creature that Xeno was trying to convince the school existed) in her ear to blow up, and Elyse would say that she already saw it one of her all knowing visions. Then again, she might get mad when she finds out how long the relationship has been going on. But maybe—

Ursula was jolted out of her thoughts when Lily asked, "Ursula, what's on your coat?"

She looked down to see her wool winter coat in her hands – the thing she was just about to hang in her wardrobe – with one addition to it since the holidays. It was a golden lion face with small rubies as its mane. The only thing that confused her about it was that instead of red of gold colored stones for the eyes, they were emeralds – Slytherin colored. "It's a broach I think." She answered looking at the pin she attached.

"You think? Didn't you buy it?" Marlene asked as she looked appreciatively at the pin.

Ursula shook her head, "An owl delivered it on my birthday. I didn't recognize the owl and it didn't have a name on it. It was wrapped in black paper; the only hint I got."

"What Black would send such a Gryffindor-y present?" Alice asked.

"It could be my Uncle Alphard or maybe my cousin Andromeda. They were both in Slytherin – that would explain the eyes." She tried to reason.

"But why wouldn't they sign a card or something?" Marlene asked.

Elyse nodded, "They would 'ov if it was 'em." She said knowingly.

"Are you sure it isn't cursed?" Lily asked while warily looking at the pendent.

Ursula shook her head and hung up her coat, "It's not cursed, if anything I think it has protection charms on it. I know that Andromeda or Uncle Alphard would have sent a card but besides the two of them, I'm not on speaking terms with the rest of my family. It doesn't matter."

"She's right, it doesn't matter. What matters more is who gave you that necklace?" Lily teased. When she caught sight of Ursula's mock-betrayed look, she rolled her eyes, "Come on, Ursula. It's our annual girl's of Gryffindor sleepover. We have to talk about stuff like this."

Ursula glared at Lily but then a pretty pair of earrings that she definitely didn't have before break caught Ursula's attention, "Who gave you those earrings? Someone special?"

Marlene snorted, "Seriously? Where have you been Ursula? Lily's been dating that Abbot bloke for the last month."

Ursula and Elyse's mouths dropped open. "WHAT?!" They both exclaimed.

Lily blushed but nodded all the same, "I don't think that the school knows yet but I told Marlene and Alice. I could have sworn that I told you two."

"Yeh neva did! I would've remembered 'at." Elyse said, still in shock.

Ursula couldn't help but chuckling, "Oh, James is going to have a fit when he finds out. Merlin, I do _not_ want to be there for that."

"Who I fancy and who I date is none of Potter's business," Lily huffed. "If he would stop being such a prat and arrogant jerk, then maybe I would actually talk to him occasionally. But he runs around here like he runs the place and hexes whoever he pleases! Dispicable!"

"We can listen to your rant about Potter later," Alice interrupted kindly. She folded her legs underneath her and turned towards Elyse's and Lily's bed (they were next to each other) and beamed, "I want to hear about how your boyfriends gave you your presents. Don't try to hide that ring!" Alice scolded when Elyse tried to put her hand in her pocket to avoid questioning.

While Alice was getting her story and awing and oohing at all the right places and Marlene listened in, Ursula discreetly tucked her locket underneath her night robes before going to side next to Alice.

"Tell them about the park," Ursula prodded, knowing the story already for Elyse.

Elyse blushed but continued telling the story of her Christmas date with Pat. Though all the girls stayed in their room this year, they had just as much fun as they did roaming around the castle and causing some small mischief.

While that night seemed to fly by, the rest of the week went by terribly slow. By the time Friday came rolling around, they were all itching for a Hogsmeade weekend. Well, all except two that is.

"I don't know if I want to go," Ursula said at lunch on Friday. "I mean, we just got back. Why go out again?"

Ben nodded in agreement, "I was thinking of practicing some of my violin this weekend."

Sirius shook his head is horror, "You two are bloody mental."

"Not go to Hogsmeade?" James asked, "That's preposterous!"

The pair just shrugged and ignored their friend's protests. Soon it came time for them to go to Defense. The class was a lecture day so it was full of taking notes and overall boredom. Professor Katsopolis tried to keep class interesting but there were something that were mind numbing and knowing all the effects the Unforgivables could have on a person was one of those. It also didn't help that everyone was itching to get out of the castle.

None too quickly, the bell rang and everyone quickly gathered up their supplies and Remus woke up Peter from his nap.

"Mr. White, come here," Professor Katsopolis said from the front of the room.

Ben walked forward wondering what he was about to get blamed for, "I swear, it wasn't me."

The Professor raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. He held out a slip of paper, "It's from your sister. She said that she wanted it to be delivered in person. Something about not trusting the owl."

Ben found that odd but thanked the professor for the note before joining his friends in the common room.

"What did Katsopolis want?" Remus asked.

Shrugging, Ben opened the note from his sister. It read:

_Meet me at the Three Broomsticks this weekend. I have to talk to you._

"It's a note from Annabelle; nothing of importance." Ben said. His brows were furrowed, confusion written plain as day on his face. He had never received such a vague or short letter from his sister before. He and Ursula had already made plans to spend Saturday together while everyone else went to Hogsmeade so they could have some time alone. Annabelle would understand. Besides, she was days away from giving birth. She should be at home; not being jostled around the Three Broomsticks.

When Saturday came and went with Ursula and Ben staying at the castle just enjoying the peace and quiet. They didn't fill the entire day with idle chatter. Sometimes they just sat in silence around the lake or library just too spend time together. Every so often, Ben or Ursula would steal a kiss from the other, but other than that, they just held hands. Ben sent a brief owl to Annabelle to tell what he was going to do but that was only thing they definitely had to do that morning.

The ending of the day was much more interesting than the beginning. The rest of the Marauders ran up to Ursula and Ben, who were sitting boys' dorm, reading separate books.

"King! You'll never believe it!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly. He shoved a piece of paper in Ben's face. Ben grabbed the paper and read some of it out loud, "Avery, Alexander. Black, Bellatrix. Carrow, Amycus. Carrow, Alecto. What is this?"

"That my friend," James said as he ran his hand frantically through his hair, "is the truth."

"What are you going on about?" Ursula asked confused.

Remus was the one to explain, "We heard a radio and we stopped to listen because we recognized it and Ben's dad. His speech was amazing. He basically said what he said the midwinter ball. But what he did this time was release the names of suspected Death Eaters. Then he did something else." Remus's eyes were wide, like he couldn't believe it.

"What happened?" Ben asked, wondering what his father could have said.

James looked awed and slightly out of it, "It was bloody brilliant. He declared war on Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. _War_."

"War?!" Ursula and Ben exclaimed at the same time.

Peter nodded frantically, "War!"

"That is probably what Anna wanted to talk to me about," Ben muttered to himself. Elyse heard and her head snapped towards him. Her eyes widened in realization of something and she ran out of the room. The rest of them were in too much shock to notice.

They were at war.

The following Tuesday started out completely normal. Ursula and Elyse had woken up before the boys and they were waiting in the Common Room for them. The boys did not disappoint as they showed up at the same time they had for the last four years. Ben's face lit up when he saw Ursula waiting for him.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he offered her his hand.

She nodded as he helped pull her up. Once standing, she looked down at their intertwined hands and raised an eyebrow- he was rarely the one to initiate any public display of affection especially in front of their friends. Ben simply smiled charmingly at her and held onto her hand tighter.

"You know, I've never realized it before but you're going to be an uncle soon. How does that feel? I think it would be really weird," Ursula commented.

Ben shrugged, "I'll admit, it is kind of weird but with the age difference, I'm not really surprised. I'm just surprised that she's having a kid when we're in the middle of war. I mean, you heard my dad's announcement two days ago: we're officially at war and she's an Auror and member of the Order. But you know what, maybe the little buddy's birth is a good thing, reminding us of the good in the world while there's all the bad."

"War or not, Annabelle's going to have her hands full with that kid. It has her genes and one of the Prewitt Twin's."

Ben chuckled at the trust of that statement, "That's why they're really lucky that Molly and Arthur just moved to Ottery St. Catchpole about a year ago."

"That's nice that your extended family is so close to your guys. It's almost too perfect that I think its borderline annoying. But I have to admit that I kind of see myself in Annabelle's shoes one day. Joining the Order, falling in love, I would get married, have a baby." Ursula admitted.

"I think that you would make a fabulous mother one day," Ben said.

Ursula raised an eyebrow, "You think?"

Ben nodded and jutted his thumb behind them, "You keep James and Sirius in line. Or at least, you attempt to."

There was a giggle from behind them so they both turned around. A bit behind them, Sirius and James were holding hands as they swung them back and forth obnoxiously as they hammed around. Sirius would make ridiculous hand motions, pretending to be a girl, while James pretended to listen to every word. Elyse was practically doubled over from laughing, holding onto Peter for support, while Remus just tried to ignore their awful acting.

Ursula rolled her eyes and let go of Ben's hand and instead wrapped her arm around his waist. A bit surprised at the sudden touch (but by no means complaining) Ben wrapped his arm around Ursula's shoulders. He spared a glance over his shoulder and saw James laughing and Sirius glowering at the couple, folding his arms over his chest and pouting. With a satisfied smirk on his face, he turned around and continued walking to the Great Hall.

They were hit with a blast of cold air not a minute later as they passed through the Entrance Hall. McGonagall entered first, then Ben's father and mother, with Dumbledore brining up the rear.

Ben's face broke out into a brilliant smile when he saw his parents.

"Mom! Dad! What's the occasion? Did Anna have her baby?" He asked excitedly as he let go of Ursula and walked towards his parents.

His mother let out a sob and she grabbed Ben in a vice grip hug, crying, "My baby!"

Over his mother's shoulders he saw his father's face and his heart plummeted to his feet. Jay White's face was ashen and it looked like he had aged fifty years since Christmas. Despair and anguish and shame shone on his face and his eyes filled with tears at the sight of his son. It was a look that Ben had never, ever seen on his father's always brave face and that terrified him to the core.

"What's going on? Is the baby okay?" He asked as thousands of thoughts were running through his mind. The baby had to be okay; he just had to be. It would destroy Annabelle if anything happened to the baby.

It was then that he noticed McGonagall's blotchy face and bloodshot eyes. He looked to Dumbledore to make sure that the world was still right side up and his eyes were still twinkling but he was not assured; Dumbledore's eyes were full of sorrow and when their eyes connected Ben could see the tracks of tears that had escaped from his eyes and disappeared into his silver beard.

"Mum," Ben begged in a pleading voice as he gently but firmly wrapped her arms around him. "What's happened?" He begged as the worst possibilities played their cruel scenarios through his head.

His mother was in no state to answer. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she tried to hold back sobs as she shook her head back and forth. Ben turned to his dad.

"Pops?" He asked in such a hopeful, scared, childlike voice that it shattered the hearts of everyone around him.

But the Minister was silent, still in shock. That is what scared Ben the most. His father always knew what to do and what to say but now he was reduced to a ghost of the man he was.

McGonagall cleared her throat and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ben," She began in a voice thick with tears. That sent off a warning signal in his head that scared him to the core. He was always Mr. White, and if it was an informal one on one meeting, it was Benjamin. But never just Ben. "There was an attack last night…" she trailed off, not even able to finish the sentence.

Ben felt his world crashing and burning around him. "No," he whispered horrified. He took a staggering step backwards, away from his family and teachers. "No." He said more resolutely as his vision swam and tears started streaming down his face.

The hall was deathly silent as Ben stood frozen in shock, denying the truth that was being presented to him.

"Benny," his mother said tearfully as she grabbed onto the sides of his face and held him close, "Annie's gone, my little girl is gone," she sobbed.

Ben wretched himself out of his mother's grasp and looked at them with half deranged, half tormented eyes. "You're lying," he said, pointing a shaking finger at the quartet of adults. Jay White shook his head, tears congregating in his eyes once more, "Son, your sister's dead." He said in a hollow voice. "It was Lord Voldemort. He killed her and the baby." He added, his suppressed sobs causing the words to shake.

"YOU'RE LYING!" Ben screamed at them before he turned on his heels and ran down a random corridor. His friends, who all had either tears in their eyes or streaming down their face, barely hesitated one second before they chased after Ben, terrified of what he would do in this state; they had never seen him like this before and it scared them to think of what he might do.

Ursula was at the lead, the others knowing that she would be the one to talk Ben down if he decided to do anything stupid. They ignored the looks they were getting from the other students, they didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was their friend and they _needed_ to be there for him. They lost him in the maze of hallways.

"Shit, where did he go?" James asked as they came to a fork in the hallway. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration at losing Ben at the worst possible time imaginable. Ursula kicked the wall and shoved her glasses higher up on her nose not just in frustration but also in anger. Someone had killed Annabelle, the girl that she fought with first year who later told her that she was the best thing to ever happen to her brother. And now she was dead, along with her unborn son because of some asshole named Voldemort who killed her for no real reason.

An unadulterated, heart wrenching cry echoed off the walls, coming from the right most corridor, followed by what sounded like something being thrown into the wall and shattering. Ursula wasted no time in running towards where Ben had to be.

The sounds of things breaking came from an old Charms room. Ursula opened the door and saw Ben standing in center of a pile of broken wood. He was just standing there, his back to them, but she could hear his labored breaths and his shoulder's shaking with repressed sobs.

Cautiously, she walked forward with the rest of them following up a few paces behind her. She reached out a hand and just as she lightly placed it on his shoulder, she said his name.

The following happened so fast that Ursula almost wasn't sure what happened. Ben spun around and his arm flailed out and hit Ursula right in the face. She fell backwards in shock and by the force of the hit. Arms went under her armpits to keep her from falling on the splintered wood. She could taste blood in her mouth and spat it out.

Sirius walked forward and forcefully placed his hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Listen, mate, I know how you feel right now but you can't-"

"YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL?!" Ben screamed at Sirius, causing the black haired boy to stumble back.

"I have a sister too-"

"AND SHE'S STILL BLOODY ALIVE! MY SISTER'S DEAD! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL!"

"I know your sister's dead!" Sirius shot back, "But that give you no bloody right to-"

"TO DO WHAT?! SHE'S DEAD AND ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS LECTURE ME? GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Ben screamed at them, gesturing madly towards the door.

Sirius was about to open his mouth to argue but James just nodded and said, "Whatever you want."

"DAMN RIGHT! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

James nodded again, a grim look on his face as he helped Ursula stumble out of the room, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Ben watched as they all left, breathing heavy from all the shouting and throwing he had done. When they were gone, he picked up another chair and threw it at the wall. He watched as it broke into a million pieces, just like his entire world was.

The darkness in his chest felt heavy and his heart was crying in pain. A burning lump in his throat formed and tears started pouring down his face as he tried to fight the sobs that threatened to wrack his body. He fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands, hot tears falling into his palms, his wails echoing off the walls. He didn't even notice the wood splinters embedding themselves in his legs.

Annabelle, she was always the invincible one, the brave one. She had always been there for Ben no matter what happened. She was always so strong and unshakable and _there_. There were a few things that had always been sure of; the sun would rise in the east, magic would never fail him, his father always had the answer, and Annabelle would always be there. Even when she became an Auror and joined the Order of the Phoenix, there was never a doubt in his mind that she would make it through this war; she was the most powerful witch and phenomenal dueler he had ever known. Just the last time that he saw her, she seemed so confident that she would be living for much longer.

"_I'm not going anywhere soon, Ben. You can be godfather to the next one."_

But she was going somewhere, Voldemort made sure of that. Pure, unfiltered rage shot through his body and he saw red. Voldemort killed his big sister. He killed his unborn nephew. He destroyed his family.

Ben was sure of one thing.

He was going to make Voldemort pay. He was going to avenge his sister's death. Even if it resulted in his own.

_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,  
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.  
All the King's horses, And all the King's men  
Couldn't put Humpty together again_


	13. A Sister's Farewell

_Hello everyone, this is going to be a fairly long author's note since I haven't written one for the last two chapters. I didn't want one on the last one because, well, I think you could probably imagine why. But in response to the chapter before that, I must say that the more confused over the visions you guys get, the happier I get! It is probably a little cruel to you guys but honestly, once we get the end, the visions will have so much meaning and mean so many different things that are kind of heartbreaking to know none of them know at that point._

_As for the last chapter, I have to admit that was probably the roughest thing I've ever had to write. In any story I've ever written - published or unpublished - I've never killed off a character. I knew that she was going to die at this point almost from the very beginning but to actually write and publish it was weird. Hearing all of your feedback (minus the one review that I deleted since someone wished death upon me for killing off Annabelle) in an odd way warmed my heart. I wanted certain emotions portrayed and to know I got them through, was a bit of a confidence booster. And if you cried, don't worry, I honestly started tearing up when I went back to read it._

_I want to apologize for the slight lateness for this chapter. I wanted to get it up last Friday but I made the District one Senior Concert Band and anyone who knows what a 'Districts' knows that you spend every last moment working on perfecting your music. Then with this week being Thanksgiving, that meant cleaning and cooking and spending time with family. All of that combined left me very little time for writing._

_Just as a warning, the next few chapters are probably going to be a little sporadic. There are only three weeks left of school and all my teachers decided that now is the time for all the big, grade determining projects/papers. _

_On the upside though, there are only going to be four or five more chapters to this book. I think I'll be able to get to the end of the year with that but we'll see. _

_Without any further delay, please enjoy the chapter and kindly leave a review when you are done._

A hand gently shook Ursula's shoulder, pulling her out of her slumber. "Ursula, Ursula, you need to get up." Lily said softly.

Ursula groaned and tried to ignore the shaking. Today was the day that she had been dreading for the last three days, ever since they got the news that Annabelle was dead. Even just thinking that, she shuddered.

It had been three days since they had found out about the attack. Three days of pitying glances from the other houses. Three days of looking at the members of their house who knew her deal with the death silently. Three days since any of them last spoke to Ben. As selfish and wrong as that was, that was what was upsetting her the most. She wanted to be with Ben in this time, comfort him; simply be there for him. But he had been pulled out of school for the week.

But today that would change. Dumbledore was allowing any student who wished to attend the funeral to leave the school for the day. All of Ben's closest friends had asked to go to the funeral, wanting to be there for their friend while Ursula had a second reason to go since she knew Annabelle fairly well. Sean Wood had actually called off practice so he would be able to go. That was it.

'"How are you feeling?" Lily asked motherly as she sat down on the edge of Ursula's bed. Lily had been overly sympathetic and cautious around Ursula the last few days. Ever since Ursula had shown up with a bruise on the side of her face, it seemed that Lily had connected a few dots and made a few assumptions. But she didn't vocalize any of them; something that Ursula was eternally grateful for.

"Like it's still not real." Ursula admitted as she sat up. "I keep on trying to put myself in Ben's shoes but I just can't. My brothers are alive and safe and healthy. I don't know how to help him."

Lily reached out and squeezed her hand, "You can just be there for him. There is probably nothing else he needs more right now than a shoulder to cry on and someone that won't judge him."

Ursula then noticed that there were bodies still in two of the beds but not the third. "Where is Elyse?"

"I got her up first. She's in the shower right now."

Ursula nodded and then swung her feet off the bed. Lily stood up and started to go make her own bed. It was an odd quirk of Lily's, Ursula noted. No matter how many times they explained to her that the House Elves made their beds, Lily consistently made her bed each morning.

Lily broke the silence after a moment, "You know," she admitted softly, "when I first heard the news that Annabelle was dead, I couldn't help but think of my sister."

"Why?"

She just shrugged, "I don't know. It's not like we are as close as Ben and Annabelle. Well, we used to be. I think that is probably it. With this war going on, what if something happens to me or to her or to my parents? I couldn't live with myself. So the first chance I got, I sat down and wrote a letter to my sister."

"What did you say?" Ursula asked as she pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail. She quickly changed into a black button down and black pants while waiting for Lily to answer.

"I basically told her that it didn't matter to me if she was magical or if she hated me. She's my sister and I love her." Lily simply said.

Ursula nodded, understanding completely since at the bottom of her trunk were two envelopes; one addressed to Sirius and the other one to Regulus. Ursula shrugged on her dress robes while nodding. "I understand."

Nothing else was able to be said privately between the girls because Elyse walked back into the room, looking worse for wear. She was in a simple black dress, attempting to compensate for her lack of proper mourning robes. She walked over to her trunk and pulled out her winter jacket before getting up to face Ursula.

"Are yeh ready ter go?"

Ursula nodded and went to leave. Lily stopped her and pulled her into a calming hug. Ursula clung to Lily, taking shuddering breaths as Lily gently rubbed her shoulders in a comforting way. It was a simple gesture but it felt like the floodgates were about to burst. Ursula held it in, her throat burning so painfully it felt like she swallowed eight lit matches.

"Will you let him know that Alice, Marlene, and I offer our condolences and if there is anything we could do for him or his family…" Lily trailed off.

Elyse nodded, "We'll be sure teh tell 'im."

Lily gave Elyse a comforting hug before the pair of girls left the room. Elyse noticed how Ursula was struggling to hold it together so she reached out and grasped her hand. Ursula jumped at the unexpected contact but didn't let go of her hand, clinging to her only life line and source of comfort.

The four boys were standing near the landing of the stairs. They were all in their best black robes with somber expressions on their faces. Normally, there would be a hint of mischief in their eyes, their mannerisms, or the quirk of their lips, but now there was nothing. James's hair looked slightly tamer than it usually was but his black tie was crooked. Ursula raised an eyebrow when she walked over to fix the tie.

"You hair looks different." She commented as she smoothed out the lapels of his robes.

"He spent the last half hour just trying to get it like that," Sirius explained. "Eventually Remus had to help him get it like that."

"I didn't want to look like a slob," James admitted quietly.

Ursula nodded, understanding his reasoning. She looked over at the other boys, making sure that they were alright. Remus looked worse for wear, worse than he usually did. He was closest to Ben than the rest of the boys so for him not to be with Ben this week was destroying him. Sirius had been keeping close to Ursula ever since Tuesday; almost unconsciously fearing what could happen if she was out of his sight for just a moment. Peter was extremely skittish and scared of everyone that approached him. As a matter of fact, he had been so nervous earlier that he tied his bowtie completely wrong.

"Why didn't yeh help 'im wit that?" Elyse asked, motioning towards the tie.

Ursula sighed while the boys gave some answer. She walked over and undid Peter's tie and as she fixed it, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"The um, the last funeral I've really ever gone to wa—was my dad's. And that- that, um was when I was one," he said, blushing at his stuttering.

"If it ever gets too much for you and you have to leave, just tell me and I'll get you out of there. Alright?" She asked, knowing how traumatizing this could be on Peter's weak heart.

He nodded and that was the end of that. Sean walked down the stairs a few minutes later, just as McGonagall walked through the portrait entrance. McGonagall motioned of them to follow her. They walked in silence down the halls, catching some looks from students who were on their way to breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye, Ursula saw a familiar head of black hair. Regulus was just a few steps down the staircase, just about to make it to the landing. When he saw Ursula, instead of ignoring her like he had for the last two years, he nodded his head.

Before she could stop to say something or somehow acknowledge him, Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She hadn't realized it, but she had slowed behind the group.

"We're almost to Minnie's office," Sirius said.

Ursula nodded and sped up to catch up. Just as she was about to turn the corner, she spared one look behind her to see the retreating figure disappear into the crowd. She sighed before walking into McGonagall's office. Now was not the time to chase after her brother, no matter how much she wanted to. Getting to Ben was more important.

While Annabelle's house was destroyed, she was still to be buried in Ottery St. Catchpole. Because of that, the funeral was going to be partially held the church in town with the reception afterwards at the Burrow.

Walking into a church, especially being a witch, was a surreal experience to Ursula. She looked up at the crosses and saw the pews and all the somber people sitting or talking in murmured voices, and felt disconnected. Looking forward, at the altar, there was an open casket. She couldn't see her face but near the middle, she could vaguely see her hands resting on top of her stomach.

"Do you see Ben?" Sirius asked, scanning the room, but unable to see their red headed friend. Ursula quickly looked for her boyfriend but she too couldn't see him. She did spot someone that might know where he was.

She walked down one of the pews and went to talk to Frank Longbottom. He was leaning against a wall, his eyes bloodshot and he kept on rubbing his head. In the back of her mind, Ursula had to wonder if he was sober.

"Frank, how are you?" James asked his former captain.

He snorted, "How do you think Potter?"

"Stupid question. Are you going to be alright?" James reworded his question

Frank's head dropped down and he shook his head, "I will be. One day when Voldemort's dead and Annabelle's and her son's deaths have been avenged, then maybe I'll be able to sleep." He looked up and noticed that Sean Wood had arrived and was now talking to Clara Roberts. The pair was tightly clinging to each other, rocking back and forth slightly. Frank's eyes sobered up when he saw the pair.

"They have to spend most of the year apart and this is how they can spend time together? I can't believe it. How has he been holding up?" Frank asked the group, worried for his friend.

Elyse shrugged, "He's copin'."

Frank nodded and pushed himself off the wall, "I'm going to go check up on him. Take care of yourselves, alright?" He said, patting James and Ursula on their shoulders while giving looks to the rest of them. He was just about to walk away when Ursula called out to him.

"Frank, where's Ben?"

Frank sighed and said, "He's not here right now. He went with Gideon, Fabian, and his father to the house. None of them wanted him to go, but he was adamant."

"Do you know when he will be back?" Remus asked.

"I don't know. They left about an hour ago. He'll be back soon, I suppose."

With that, Frank turned and walked over to his former teammates. Remus sighed, "I can't believe he went to the house. From what I heard, they still haven't been able to figure out how to get rid of the Dark Mark over the house."

"Why would he go?" Peter asked.

They were all silent a moment as they thought about that. Sirius crossed his arms and looked at the ground intently before looking up at Ursula, "She was his sister. Brothers, no matter what, will do anything for their sisters. He needed to go."

"I wish he didn't," Elyse admitted.

"He'll be back," Remus said logically. "And when he does, we'll need to tread carefully. The last time we saw him, he wasn't exactly in the best state of mind. None of us know how much that has changed."

They all nodded and sort of split up. Remus went to go talk to one of Ben's cousins, James went to be with the other Quidditch players, Peter, Sirius, and Elyse went to sit in a pew, and Ursula slowly walked up to the casket.

It didn't look like she was dead. It looked so fake, so unreal; like she was simply sleeping and about to jump up and be perfectly fine. Her hands were gently resting on her still protruding stomach. Her engagement ring glittered on her finger while her fingers were ceremoniously wrapped around her wand. Her red hair was fanned around her head, looking unnatural in Ursula's eyes since she had never seen the girl with her hair down.

Ursula reached unto her pocket and felt for the lose piece of fabric. Once she found it, she let her fingers trace gently over the stitching before saying, "You told me that I'm the best thing that ever happened to your brother once. But you lied. _You_ are the best thing that ever happened to Ben. I wonder if you ever saw it…" Ursula trailed off, thinking off all the things she could say to the girl that had guided her, pushed her, protected her, and befriended her, but at that moment, she couldn't think about how to put it into words. So she did the only thing she could think of doing to show some of her appreciation.

She pulled out the piece of fabric from her pocket and reached inside the coffin to place the red and gold number three. "They got new Quidditch jerseys the year after you graduated so yours went into storage. I found it after practice on Wednesday and cut the number off and I nicked an old Captain's badge. I don't know if it was yours but it was all I could get. I'm sorry."

For what, she wasn't sure.

She tucked the number and pin into the side of the casket, careful not to disturb her body. An arm gently wrapped around her shoulders, causing her to jump. Quickly, she turned her head and saw Mrs. White standing there. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was much more composed than the last time Ursula saw her.

"She looks like she is just sleeping," Mrs. White commented absentmindedly as she gently pushed some of Annabelle's hair back. "Jay and I wanted her hair pulled back, she hates having her hair pulled back, but the director said some rubbish about how it's not proper. Annie's probably furious."

Ursula had no idea how to respond to the grieving mother's musings. Before she could offer anything, Mrs. White continued, this time looking up at Ursula, "My daughter spoke of you quite often. A 'fiery and stubborn little twit' is what she first called you. Apparently you grew on her that year. She was quite fond of you by the time she graduated and still is."

"Um, Mrs. White—" Ursula began, noticing the tense she was referring her daughter to and wondering if the woman had completely lost it

"But of course you knew that. She speaks highly of you to the entire family so there is no doubt that Benjamin has told you that. Plus from what I gather there have been a fair few private conversations between the two of you in the past and I don't doubt in the future."

"Mrs. White, are – do – um…"Ursula stuttered to try to figure out her question without sounding callous, "You're talking like she's going to do something. Annabelle is, well, she's—"

"Dead, I know." Mrs. White said calmly, looking back down at her daughter. "But she is not truly dead. She simply lives on in a place where we cannot be with her."

Ursula was silent as she took in the woman's words. "I never thought of it that way." Ursula admitted softly.

Mrs. White gently rubbed her shoulder gently, "Not many people do, my dear. Sadly, I think my son is one of those people. Please, take care of him."

Solemnly, Ursula nodded. Mrs. White smiled slightly before she said something about going to check on her parents before leaving. Ursula looked back down at the peaceful body and saw her pregnant stomach. Realizing that she didn't know the name of the boy, just the middle, she set off to find someone that would know.

She didn't have to look long. Ursula walked past what she assumed to be a door to an unused room when she heard a strange noise coming from it. Curiosity getting the best of her, Ursula opened the door. She found Molly Weasley sitting in a chair, looking completely distraught. Elyse was sitting next to her, gently rubbing her back and holding a bucket. Ursula caught Elyse's attention and motioned towards the bucket in question.

Before Elyse answered, Molly did just that and motioned to the bucket and promptly threw up in it. Ursula gagged but rushed over to pull back Molly's hair. Once she was done retching, she sat back and washed out her mouth with water and spit that out in the bucket.

"I'm sorry girls, you must think I'm a mess."

Ursula shook her head, "I think you're a grieving sister-in-law who right now doesn't want everyone else to know that she's pregnant."

Molly's eyes widened, "How did you-?"

"You're vomiting into a bucket, it's still early in the morning, and to be honest you're kind of due to be pregnant. After Bill and Charlie being so close, I would have thought you already would have another kid."

Molly shook her head and laughed a little bit at Ursula's logic, "You're clever, aren't you dearie?"

"How are along're yeh?" Elyse asked as she banished the sick from the bucket, knowing that she wouldn't get caught since the entire building was full of overage wizards.

"Just found out a few days ago, I'm almost two months in. I found out the day of the murder and I looked out the window to see if either of them were home and then I saw the Dark Mark above their house and—and," Molly dissolved into sobs. Elyse comforted the woman the best she could while Ursula stayed back, unsure of how to comfort Molly. Elyse reached over to a table and offered her some tissues.

"Thank you dearie," Molly said through her tears. "It was just horrible. I was planning on running over there to tell them their little Ronnie would have a cousin his age!"

Ursula perked up, "Little Ronnie?"

Molly nodded and blew her nose before saying, "That was going to be the baby's name. Ronald Benjamin."

* * *

Before she knew it, they were all ushered into the pews. Multiple people spoke; the Minister (much more composed and determined to get justice of his daughter and grandson), one of her uncle's spoke, Frank said something quick, Professor Dumbledore briefly spoke, and Fabian stood up to speak on behalf of he and his brother. But Ursula couldn't tell you what was said. All she was able to do was stare at Ben. The seating allowed her to be able to see his stone cold profile. His face was blank the entire time. It was utterly terrifying.

Mr. White, Gideon, Fabian, Ben, Frank, and Benjy were the six to carry her casket to the small cemetery. Since there were a few muggles in attendance, they couldn't go about it in a completely wizard way. Once they filled the graved and said the final prayer, there was a moment of silence. Ursula felt her resolve cracking when the casket was lowered into the ground. Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him, comforting her like only a brother could. James reached out and took one of her hands and squeezed it once before letting it go.

After distracting the few muggles, the dirt was quickly placed back through use of magic. From there everyone was ushered up the road to the Burrow. Elyse looked at Ursula, who was lagging behind, "Do yeh want a minute?"

Remus nodded, supporting the idea, "We know that you were closer to Annabelle than the rest of us. We can meet you up at the house." He offered.

Ursula saw a lone, red headed figure standing by the gravestone and nodded, "I'll meet up with you guys later."

They nodded and started with the rest of the attendees up to the Burrow. Ursula walked over the snow, careful to avoid the rectangle of exposed dirt. His face was still as emotionless as it was in the church, she observed. His jaw was set and there was a coldness in his brown eyes that hadn't been there before. She placed her hand on Ben's shoulder and softly said his name. Unlike last time she did this and he lashed out at her, he simply stiffed and shrugged his shoulder away.

She cleared his throat, determined to get some communication through to him, "Lily, Alice, and Marlene wanted to offer their condolences. The entire Tower does."

He still didn't say anything.

"We're all really worried about you, Ben. Please, just say something." She practically begged.

Ben looked at her out of the corner of his eye before looking back at the gravestone. "Did you know?" He asked bitingly.

"What?"

This time he turned towards her, "Did. You. Know?" He demanded.

"Know what?" She asked, more confused as she had ever been.

He rolled his eyes, "Don't act like you didn't know. I know Elyse talks to you about this type of stuff. She had a vision of my sister's murder. You had to have known."

Her jaw dropped to the ground, "Elyse saw what?"

Ben snorted, "Like you didn't know. You had to have known that was the weekend she was going to die! She was due so soon and you knew that she was pregnant when she died! That is what Elyse said!"

"I didn't know anything! What are you talking about?" Ursula asked, borderline shouting at her friend.

Ben laughed humorlessly, "Remember when Elyse ran out of the room when I mentioned Annabelle wanting to see me? She ran to write a letter to Gideon only he didn't get the letter on time. She chose the stupidest owl in the school so the letter got to him too late to save Annabelle."

"But she can't-"

"We technically can't become animagi but we still are! She broke the law to write Gideon! But you know what, I'll give her that she tried, she broke a law to try to save my sister. But did she tell me? Did she stop me from not going to Hogsmeade? No. She let me spend the day with _you_." He spat.

Ursula shook her head, unable to believe the accusations spilling from her boyfriend's mouth, "Ben, what you saying?" She reached out to grab his hands but he snatched them back.

"I'm saying that I spent the last day that I could have seen my sister alive with a girl who probably knew of Annabelle's impending death! I could have been there for her – maybe somehow she wouldn't have been at home that night because of something we said or did! Maybe she would still be alive but I let you talk me into staying." He growled. His eyes were half crazed and his entire frame was shaking not from the cold, but from anger.

He took a step closer to her, "I don't care about what we were or weren't. I don't care what people say." He was now a few inches from her face. She could feel her heart pounding and an odd emotion (odd for whenever she was around him at least) she realized after a moment was fear. "I never want to speak to you again. I never want to talk to you, look at you, sit next to you, or even think about you. That goes for the rest of them, are we clear?" He asked threateningly.

Unable to do anything else, Ursula just nodded, not registering that tears were flowing freely down her face. He nodded once, "Good."

With that he turned on his heels and stalked up the road to the Weasley's house, leaving Ursula completely and utterly alone.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur. She vaguely remembered telling the rest of them that Ben didn't want to talk to them but that was about it. Elyse sat by her sit the entire night, somehow knowing what had happened between the pair. The trip back to Hogwarts was a blur. They arrived back past dinner, but not too late since half the house was sitting the common room. The boys decided to stay down for a little bit but the girls were just too tired.

Once in their dorm, Elyse quickly changed and fell straight asleep. Ursula tried to fall asleep, she honestly did but Ben's words haunted her. He had ended it. A boy that she had honestly started to truly trust with her heart proved once again to her to never trust anyone with that. It actually physically hurt her; it felt like someone was pressing down on her sternum. Unable to take the pain (and realizing that her stomach had been growling) she pulled on her slippers and set off for the kitchen.

After tickling the pear, she walked into the kitchen and smelled the delightful scent of a fresh batch of treacle tarts mixed with the smell of vanilla ice cream. One of the house elves ran up to Ursula, "Mistress Ursula! We heard about Mistress Annabelle? We knows the Mistresses were good friends. We are all very sorry for the loss. We can get you anything. The usual?"

She swallowed the burning lump in her throat and shook her head, "Could I have some brownie chocolate ice cream?" If she was going to do this, she supposed that she might as well go all out.

The house elf nodded enthusiastically and ran towards the kitchen area to get her her requested snack.

"That's not good for Quidditch," A male voice said from behind her.

Ursula jumped but instantly calmed when she saw it was just James sitting at a table, a lone light illuminating just his table, giving him an eerie but warm glow. She raised her eyebrow at the carton of vanilla he was using to dip treacle tarts into. "And that is?"

"Touché," he said before he popped another one of his treats into his mouth.

The house elf returned with her carton of ice cream and a spoon. The two friends sat in silence, not acknowledging the reasons that drove them to eat ice cream in the middle of the night.

James was the first one to break the silence, "Lily's going out with Gabe Abbott."

Ursula nodded, signaling that she knew that already. James shook his head and chuckled to himself, "Apparently I'm the only one in the school that didn't know that before tonight. I couldn't believe it. Lily and Abbott. I thought I only had Snape to deal with," he muttered to himself.

It was then that Ursula noticed the heartbroken expression when he mentioned Lily's relationship. But every time he said Lily's name, there would be a small spark, a slight change in his eyes, that would simply brighten his whole face. The entire school thought that James was just chasing after Lily for the game, or to try to show up Snape, but now Ursula knew that was not that case at all.

"You truly care for her, don't you?" Ursula asked in awe.

James nodded, oddly serious, "I might have been going about this wrong but I really do care for her, fancy her, like her, I don't care what word you use." He paused a moment and laughed to himself, "You know," he began, "all those little notes that Elyse has been putting on my presents for my birthday and the holidays? The ones that no one else ever reads? They're little hints about how to win Lily over. Like on top of the movies I got two Christmases ago; Elyse wrote that they were all Lily's favorites."

"Oh, James," Ursula said sadly, having some concept of what he was going through.

He shook his head, "Now you know why I am acting like a girl and eating my problems away in ice cream. But I still don't know why you are here."

Ursula sighed, trying to think about how she could possibly explain what drove her there. Eventually she decided on the direct approach. "Ben and I have been secretly dating for the last three months."

The look on James's face was comical. His eyes were as wide and he had a treacle tart about halfway to his open mouth. "Holy shit." He said in shock. He threw his snack to the ground, to focused on Ursula at the moment to care.

Ursula nodded, "We wanted to make sure that we weren't just going to break up and have it awkward between our group of friends. Kind of like we were testing the waters." James nodded and encouraged her to go on. "Everything was going great and we were planning on telling everyone soon. The last Hogsmeade trip, where we both stayed behind, we just spent the day together instead of him going to visit his sister."

"Don't tell me—" James trailed off, seeing where the story was going.

She nodded, "He blames me. He thinks that I took away his last day with his sister and he is furious. He said that he never wants to even think of me again."

"The bastard," James growled.

"No, no, he's just hurting right now," Ursula tried to defend.

"Hurting my ass! You don't do that to your friends, not if they are just as hurt as you are, the slimy, insensitive bastard."

Ursula shook her head, "He may be that but—"

"But you still care for him," James finished. "Just like I can't be angry at Lily."

"Exactly."

James shook his head slowly is what seemed like disbelief, "I still can't believe you were dating Ben and none of us noticed."

"Lily knew. She was the only one in school that knew about us."

"Anyone out of school?" James asked out curiosity.

Ursula froze but then admitted, "Annabelle knew; told me I was the best thing to happen to her brother. And today, standing in front of her grave, he basically told me that he hated me."

"Merlin," James said, "this is so messed up, isn't it?"

Ursula couldn't agree more.


	14. Collision of the Brotherly Sort

_I would like to sincerely apologize for the despicable lateness of this chapter. I honestly never thought that it would take me this long to write it but it turned out that tech week hours were longer than they had been in previous years. So on top of end of the year things, i had five consecutive rehearsal that were five hours each from Sunday to Thursday with no break and then three shows from Friday to Sunday. It was stressful but I can't really complain since I love playing in the pit. But I do kind of have a legitimate excuse for being so late, I kind of - sort of broke my hand when striking the set. A piece of percussion equipment hit my hand and I couldn't move it for almost two days without horrible pain shooting up my arm and down to my fingers. But I'm all better now so it's all good.__  
_

_Writers block was also my enemy here. Trying to move on after killing off a character and causing such a shift in one of the main characters that affected the rest of them has been really difficult. I think that I am going to write one more chapter and that be it for this book before fifth year begins. I should have that chapter up before Christmas (knock on wood) so just be aware.  
_

_I would like to take a second to thank all the phenomenal reviewers for the last chapter. I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to personally respond to each and every one but know that every time I get a review, I don't want to say it warms my heart, but it makes me extremely happy and motivated to write the next chapter. The only problem is getting the time to write the next chapter. :P _

_Anyway, one with the story!  
_

* * *

Ursula came to a skidding halt at the foot of the stairwell. Curls were flying lose from her ponytail, her face was flushed a brilliant red, her Quidditch uniform was covered in grass, dirt, and sweat stains; she looked like a mess. Her face was twisted into a disbelieving yet terrified grimace. Not expecting such a sudden stop, James, who was in a similar state as Ursula, crashed into her. He grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

Before Ursula could even mutter thanks, James was dragging her up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Soon the sound of their booming feet and frantic breath mixed with the muted shouts emerging from behind the Fat Lady.

Halfway up the last staircases, James shouted, "GRINDYWILLOWS!"

The Fat Lady glared at them and started ranting about "rowdy, good for nothing students" but the pair paid no mind as they ran into the Tower. The screaming and shouting increased tenfold. Ursula and James froze for just a moment as they took in the scene; Sirius was screaming obscenities at Ben while Remus, Peter, and a few boys in the upper years tried to separate them.

Almost instantly, James sprang forward and started pulling the two boys away from each other. He wrapped his arm around Sirius's neck and dragged the now choking boy away from his friend. "HELP ME!" James shouted at Remus, who instantly jumped to James's aide and wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist and pulled him back. Ben stumbled back rubbing his jaw, a nasty bruise already forming. His ferocious glare nearly burned Sirius's entire being.

Ursula couldn't move, her heart felt like it was in her throat. Sirius, her brother, was still screaming unintelligible words at Ben, the boy she cared deeply for. The entire scene reminded her too much of the fights at Grimmauld Place, where the screaming never stopped; the hatred, screaming, violence, oh, the _hatred_.

She stumbled forward as Elyse bumped into her as she finally made it back to the Common Room. At that moment, Sirius seemed to be calmed down enough that James and Remus loosened their grip. But then he muttered something at Ben, who had just turned to walk back to the sofa, where his stuff was now scattered about.

It was a firework reaction. With a guttural snarl, Ben tackled Sirius to the ground. The only sound Ursula heard was a sickening crack as Ben's fist connected to the side of Sirius's skull. A terrified scream echoed through the room, Ursula didn't even realize it was hers. Without a second thought, she ran forward and shoved Ben off her brother. She cradled his head in her hands, gently tapping his cheek to see if he was semiconscious. Her attempts were in vain. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head.

In the back of her mind, she heard someone that sounded suspiciously like James petrify Ben. Then the portrait door opened again and Professor McGonagall stormed into her house tower, demanding to know what was going on.

But Ursula didn't notice any of that. The only thing that mattered was her unconscious brother lying in front of her, blood trickling down the side of his face from the powerful blow. "Padfoot…Sirius…please, wake up."

_~10 hours earlier~_

It had been one week. One week since the funeral. One week since Ben had spoken to anyone. One week since anything had been normal. Elyse saw the disintegration of her friend's secret (like they could keep a secret from her) relationship. Sirius had been harassing her daily about talking to Ursula about what was wrong, James spent all his spare time with Ursula nowadays, Peter was following after James and Ursula, and Remus was still recovering from the full moon. The only small comfort Elyse had was a letter from Pat.

_Elyse,_

_I am so sorry about the loss of your friend's sister passing. Knowing what if feels like after Seamus died, I can only imagine what he is going through. If he ever needs someone to talk to, any friend of yours is a friend of mine._

_It sounds selfish asking this, especially at a time like this, but I wanted to know if you wanted to visit over Spring holiday? I know you like to stay at school but maybe coming home might help you out a little bit too. That and honestly, I miss you. You don't have to answer right away, just think about it._

The rest of his letter was full of information on the goings on in Kiltimagh and both of their families. A stab of guilt hit her heart as she thought about the lie she'd fed to her boyfriend; Ben's sister was killed in an automobile accident. But no matter how much she wished she could, she couldn't tell Pat the real cause of death; murdered by Lord Voldemort with the Killing Curse. Pat was just a muggle. He would never fully understand the magical world.

Elyse was just settling down to write a letter back to Pat when the door opened and Ursula walked in. She threw her Ancient Runes stuff on the bed and moved to lean against Elyse's bed post.

"Lucky, do you remember what time practice is today?" Ursula asked.

"Wood said 'e wanted oos 'ere by six." Elyse responded, "Why?"

Ursula shook her head but moved back to her bed, "No reason." She mumbled.

"Woot?"

Ursula sighed agitatedly, "It's nothing, just drop it!"

"Ursula," Elyse said sternly, only to be ignored by her friend. So she took a deep breath and said, "Muse, stop." Ursula froze with her back to Elyse. "Yeh've been avoidin' talkin' ter us and it's scarin' us. Talk ter me," Elyse practically begged.

"He's hurt right now," Ursula admitted after a moment, softly whispering to her close friend. "He's lost, in pain, suffering, grief stricken – hell, he's falling apart. But he's still there somewhere and I have to find him. I need _Ben_ back, not this person who looks like him. I can't just abandon him, no matter what he said." She said.

Elyse nodded understandingly, "So woot're yeh goin' ter do?"

Ursula didn't answer, she simply grabbed her Quidditch gear and walked towards the door. Elyse sprang up from the bed and blocked the door entrance, "WHERE'RE YEH GOIN'?" Elyse demanded with her eyes blazing. "We've already lost King ter all this mopin' around crap, but I'll be damned if yeh start!"

Ursula looked abashed, "I'm going to sit outside Flitwick's office. Ben has practice there every Friday night with the choir. Since he's moved his seats in all our other classes….this is the only chance I'll get."

Nodding, Elyse stepped to the side and allowed Ursula to walk past. She couldn't help but think that this was a bad idea.

* * *

Three hours later Sirius got bored just sitting in his dorm room after James had to leave for Quidditch practice. Deciding that he would go 'Git Hunting', as he had dubbed the search for Snape, he grabbed his wand and James's cloak before setting off. He, however, came across an odd finding about fifteen minutes into his trip. He found Ursula sitting next to the room the choir would rehearse in. In her hand there was the prototype of the Marauder's map, hidden but still recognizable to its creators.

"Ursula, what are you doing here? Practice starts in five minutes."

She jumped up in shock, "What!? What time is it?"

He shrugged, "I'm not sure but James left about twenty minutes ago and you two usually show up together with Elyse."

She swore and ran her hand through her hair and frantically pulled it up. As she did that, she handed the map off to Sirius, "I'm waiting for Ben to get out of the choir room. When he gets out, could you please talk to him. We need him back," she begged softly, knowing that her brother was still furious at Ben for punching her in the jaw three weeks ago.

He nodded and tucked the map into his back pocket, "I'll try to be civil."

"Thanks Sirius," she gave him a quick hug before sprinting down to the Quidditch field.

With his plans to harass Snape effectively ruined, Sirius sat down where Ursula had previously been and leaned his head back. If the droning singing was anything to go by, they were going to be a while. Unwillingly, he felt his eyes flutter close, nodding off to sleep by the dirge. Before he was completely out, he grabbed the invisibility cloak and threw it over himself before falling asleep.

When he awoke, the sun was already set and the music had stopped. It took him a moment to comprehend when he realized that. He sprang up and quickly activated the map and looked for Ben. When he saw Ben's dot in the Gryffindor Common Room, he swore. Just as he was about to walk back to the Tower, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick turned around the corner. Sirius threw the cloak over him and followed the pair into the charm's office.

"—I barely knew what to say Minvera!" Flitwick squeaked, "I had never seen him look so cold before!"

McGonagall shook his head, "Benjamin's lost a lot in the last few weeks; he isn't going to bounce right back from his sister's murder." She said defensively.

Flitwick shook his head, "I mean no offense against your house, but I have students who have lost family members themselves in the last few weeks, they aren't going around like Mr. White is."

"What did he say?" McGonagall asked as she rubbed her forehead.

"He walked up to me before rehearsal and said that he quit. He even refused to practice with us! I asked him if he had spoken to his friends about it, specifically Miss Black since she is particularly close to him." At this Sirius leaned closer, waiting to hear what Ben said about his sister. "He said that he never wanted to be associated with any of them, especially Miss Black. What he said about her—I never would have thought he could say such things! Then he stormed out before rehearsal even began."

McGonagall was barely able to hide her shock, "What on Earth did he say about Ursula?"

Flitwick shook his head, "He called her a good for nothing traitor."

With that Sirius snapped. Not even bothering with subtly he stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him. He had been trying to figure out what had been wrong with his sister for the last weeks. He thought it was just because she was still grieving over Annabelle. But to find out it was her boyfriend, their friend, the bloke she bloody trusted so much; Sirius was furious. He had trusted Ben with his sister's heart and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way. Ben was going to _die_.

* * *

The Quidditch team finished their practice after the sun went down. They had just touched down when Mary MacDonald came running out into the stands, "URSULA! ELYSE!" She shouted to get their attention. "YOU NEED TO GET TO THE COMMON ROOM! NOW!"

"What's wrong?!" Ursula shouted back up.

Mary's face was pale and she was panting heavily, completely winded from her run, "Your brother and Ben are muggle fighting! No one knows what happened! Sirius just stormed in and punched Ben!"

Mary was only halfway through the explanation when James and Ursula shared a panicked look before the pair sprinting towards the castle. Once inside the castle, they ran through some of the crowds, shoving students out of the way and not listening to their indignant shouts. Ursula came to a skidding halt at the foot of the stairwell…

* * *

Madame Pomfrey had assured the friends that Sirius was fine and he would be awake the following morning. That didn't quell any of their concerns and they all stayed until they were forcibly removed from the Hospital wing. James shoved the invisibility cloak into Ursula's hands, nodding at her once, before sneaking back into the hospital wing. She settled down in the chair next to Sirius and looked at her brother's face.

In the pale moonlight, his skin looked almost transparent. There were two bruises, one on his jaw and one on his temple. His knuckles, gently resting on the blankets, were bruised and cut up in some places. The healing potion he had been given earlier was just starting to kick in and all the bruises and cuts on his body. The one on his temple was the last one to heal over.

Ursula simply sat next to him and looked out the window down at the Hogwarts grounds. Her brother had attacked her boyfriend – her ex-boyfriend, she mentally corrected. She couldn't image what Ben had said to cause Sirius to attack him in such a way. Absent mindedly, she wondered if Regulus had been told about their brother being in the hospital wing. The news of Sirius's and Ben's fight must have reached Slytherin ears by now.

She was broken out of her musings when Sirius's eyes fluttered open. Ursula pulled the cloak off of her and quickly went back to his side, "How are you?"

Sirius chuckled darkly, "Like I just got the shit beat out of me."

"Seriously."

He smirked, "I always am."

She gently smacked his shoulder as she laughed with him. As the laughter died, her expression turned somber, "What happened today?"

Sirius turned his head so he could look at her straight in the eye, "I waited just like you asked. He was never in there; he quit. When Flitwick asked him if he talked to us about it, Ben said something about him never wanting to speak to us again, especially—"

"Especially who?" Ursula asked. The look on his face said it all. Her chest tightened and she smiled sadly, "Me."

He just nodded.

"So what did he say that set you off like that," Ursula asked.

"Sissy," Sirius warned.

Ursula leaned forward and grabbed his arm, "Sirius, tell me what he said."

"A good for nothing blood traitor." He muttered. He didn't need to say it louder in the silent room. Ursula heard it and she was sure that he in return could hear her heart shatter. But she smiled grimly.

"Tell me what you said that got you knocked out."

"I told him that Annabelle would be ashamed of him."

Ursula hissed, "That was below the belt,"

"He deserved it," Sirius tried to rationalize.

Ursula shrugged, not wanting to argue with her injured brother, "Is there anything you need?"

He nodded, "You would think for a magical school, the pillows here would be nicer. They feel like bricks. Could you grab my pillows, oh and while you are there, grab my slippers and night robe, this is not comfortable at all."

"I'll be right back," Ursula promised as she threw the cloak back on. She jogged to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed the bag Ben gave them for her birthday a few years ago, and ignoring the pain in her chest, she went to the boys' room. Quickly, she grabbed Sirius's requested items as silently as she could so she didn't wake any of the others. She was just about to leave when she saw a pile of splinters littering the floor near Ben's bed.

Curiosity that would probably get her killed one day caused her to pull out her wand gesture at the area, "Reparo."

Into her hands flew a beautifully crafted violin, made of Cedar, a Christmas gift to Ben from Annabelle three years ago. On the back of her hand, she felt something there so she turned it over to see the engraving in Annabelle's handwriting, _When life gets tough, when it seems like everything is falling down, my wish for you is to play. Love, Annabelle._

Ursula teared up when she read the words. Had Annabelle ever thought that her words would have such a poignant meaning? Ever thought of the implications of the words? It appeared that Ben hadn't been able to handle the message and destroyed the gift, unable to cope with the words his sister left behind for him.

Without a word, Ursula gently placed the violin in its still open case and put it inside her bag, swearing that one day, when her Ben was back, she would give it back to him.

* * *

_Please let me know what you thought or if there is something you would like to see in the next (and probably last) chapter of this book. I take all suggestions into consideration and sometimes one idea branches out to another idea and I end up writing a few chapters at a time. So please, **REVIEW**!_


	15. The Future is Dim

_Sorry about this one taking a bit longer than usual! I hoped to get this out last Friday but plans with friends and final school projects got in the way. But that doesn't really matter, as this is the final chapter of this book so I finished with my promise to myself to finish this book before the end of the year. The next book should be coming out sometime in the beginning of next year. I don't really have a date for you guys but it will be in the first couple weeks.  
_

_Another reason for this update being kind of late is that I write a new one-shot. I realized that I haven't written any of those recently and when I was working on my senior thesis about Edgar Allan Poe, I reread Annabelle Lee and instantly a story formed in my head. I've never written anything like that before so please let me know what you think of it. It's the title of the poem, if just want to search for the title.  
_

_One last thing, sorry. I noticed that for some reason, the last chapter didn't update for a few days. Weird. I don't know what happened but the story seemed to disappear off the site for a few days. So if you haven't read the last chapter, you might want to go do that now.  
_

_That's all for now. There will probably be another author's note at the end of the chapter, but for right now, please enjoy this last chapter.  
_

* * *

_A lone figure stood in front of the tombstone, reaching out to touch the grave stone. Her barely distinguishable red hair was the only identifiable trait to the assumed woman, as she was of slightly above average height and her back was towards the grave, not allowing her face to be seen. She reached out her hand to touch the grave but something stopped her. Her hand shakily reached out to touch the cold hard stone. There were a few labored gasps as she tried to keep her composure, but eventually she pulled back her hand and presumably covered her mouth to stifle her sobs._

_A man, looking extremely familiar, with glasses and infuriatingly messy hair walked over and just stood next to her for a moment, not making a sound. Placing his hand on her shoulder was what broke her. She choked back a heart wrenching sob before crumbling to the ground. The man knelt down next to her and gathered her into his arms, "It's okay," he whispered comfortingly into her hair. "It's going to be alright." He kissed the crown of her head and then gently rocked her back and forth while rubbing soothing circles on her back._

"_Where's—" her voice cut off._

"_He's down at the gate. He feels guilty about being here first; he thinks that if should have been you." He turned his head to look at the lone red headed figure standing off to the side with another figure with their hood up. _

_The girl scoffed without turning her head, "He's an idiot."_

"_When isn't he?" The man chuckled._

_Slowly and cautiously the woman once again reached out her hand but she hit the corner of the grave. The man reached forward and guided her hand towards the name in front of her. Ursula W—_

Elyse sat up with a gasp. She felt ill and ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet to empty what little was left in her stomach. For the past three weeks they had kicked up their practice trying to turn into animagus, knowing that their time was running out to finish. So far none of them had managed a full transformation. The strain of trying to shrink her body into a rabbit was physically taxing for Elyse. She had become sick the last four nights after practice. But even thinking out her most recent vision caused her to dry heave into the toilet once more.

When she finished, she rolled onto her side, letting the cool title sooth her burning face. A faint sheen of sweat shone on her face, causing lose bits of her hair to uncomfortably stick to her forehead and neck. Lying on the ground, she tried to look past the fact that she had just seen Ursula's gravestone. She hadn't seen the date or any other indication of when it happened, other than the fact that she, James, and it appeared Ben and another person went to the grave. Her eyes closed as she picked at her brain, trying to remember any other detail she could.

A soft whining and a nudge to her hand caused her eyes to fly open. Elyse shrieked softly before stifling her shout with her hand. Her green eyes widened at the animal – not _person_ – in front of her. A canine, a pure Siberian Husky by the looks of it, stared at her with familiar grey eyes. The dog – Ursula – nudged her hand again, jolting Elyse out of her shock.

"Bloody 'ell," Elyse breathed out in shock. She brought her hand up and reached forward to touch Ursula's head. Her mind flashed to her future self reaching towards Ursula's gravestone and froze. Ursula mistook the reason of hesitation and walked forward and rubbed her head against Elyse's hand.

"Yeh actually diddit," Elyse said a little louder, a smile breaking across her face, forgetting for a moment her vision. "I've goot ter tell teh guys!" She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness and ran towards the door. Ursula clumsily ran forward and blocked the door, shaking her head back and forth frantically.

"Woot? Don't yeh want ter tell 'em?"

A mischievous glint flashed in Ursula's eyes, not unlike when she was human. Elyse understood the look, not needing her best friend to verbalize her idea, "Yeh want ter surprise 'em, don't cha?"

Ursula chuckled, her laugh as a dog didn't differ much from her regular bark-like laugh. Unable to hold it back, Elyse joined Ursula in laughter. Once the pair stopped, Elyse wanted to pet Ursula's head again. Ursula rolled her eyes but allowed her friend to stroke her fur. It was during that time that Elyse got a good look at Ursula's animagus. She was a fairly large dog with the traditional marking of the Siberian Husky, all the way from her ice grey eyes to her black and white marble fur. The top of her head was black and slightly curlier than the rest. There was only one unique mark on her. A thin band of golden fur went around her neck, dipping in the front before ending in galleon sized circle; her necklace from Ben.

Elyse's heart sank at the thought of their former friend. It had been almost two months since they had last spoken to Ben. The boys saw him a few more times since they lived in the same room, but if their word was anything to go by, every encounter was awkward and full of tension. It had been two months since Ursula had even spoken of Ben and she had gone back to acting like her usual self. She was getting in trouble with the teachers, dueling with Snape, arguing with her brother Regulus, spending time with Lily, and focusing on her Quidditch game.

All of a sudden, the dog stepped back and slowly morphed back into Ursula. Her night robes were in disarray but otherwise, every part of her looked normal. She swayed to the side, a wave of dizziness over taking her before she regained her balance. She chuckled as she grabbed into the doorframe to balance herself, "Probably wasn't the best idea to try that the night before the House Cup game." She quipped.

Elyse nodded, "Yeh's right. Teh game's in a few 'ours. Yeh need ter git some rest."

Ursula nodded and walked back to her bed, not even having the energy to pull the sheets around her. Elyse walked over to the bed, tucked Ursula in, and feel back into her own bed to try to dream away her nightmare of a vision.

The next morning Moira, Elyse, and Ursula were changing in the House Changing Room when there was a knock at the door. Ursula threw on her jersey before walking to the door, not opening it all the way to shield the intruder's eyes from the still not completely dressed girls.

"What do you want, James?" Ursula asked.

He handed her nine black bands, "We're wearing these on our sleeves for the game."

Ursula grabbed one of the bands and read PENDERGAST 6. She instantly recognized the name as a beater from the Fifties who had died in a Death Eater attack last February.

She cleared her throat, "How many…?"

"Three for each of us. Prendergast, Reynolds, and –"

"White," Ursula finished.

James nodded solemnly. "I'll leave you guys to finish getting ready. Just don't spend too much time on makeup." He teased halfheartedly.

Ursula rolled her eyes, "Make sure you don't spend too much time on your hair, Prongsy. Lily might start thinking that you chase the other team."

He growled slightly and shoved her back into her changing room, slamming the door shut and ignoring her barking laugh that traveled through the door. He spun on his heels and walked back to his own changing room.

* * *

When they entered Gryffindor Tower after, they didn't enter the way they left. The team left on their own two feet, their brooms slung over their shoulders, practically oozing false bravado and confidence, all personally wondering about the outcome of the game. They were evenly matched with Slytherin. It was more than just house pride on the line for this game. It was a matter of principles. It was the War was acted out in the game. A war fought by children on a Quidditch Pitch, but a war none less.

It was the result of the game that resulted in the entire team being carried on the shoulders of their housemates while their captain proudly held the Quidditch House Cup in his hand amidst the cheers and screams of the victorious house.

Ursula laughed joyously, sharing a look with James who was closest to her. His smile had to be the brightest of them all, he was practically glowing. Ursula, who usually didn't like being carried by people she knew, let alone random people from Gryffindor, found that she felt like she was floating on a cloud as she was carried to the Tower.

Once in the Common Room, the people carrying the team set them down on the ground while those carrying Sean Wood placed him ceremoniously on the large table so he was overlooking the entire population of his house with the House Cup safely under his arm. He held it up higher, inciting an even louder cheer from the entire House. There was a chant of "Speech! Speech! Speech!" deafening the room.

He motioned for them to quiet down and began his speech, "Everyone, look at this trophy. The last time it was in this Common Room, a certain Annabelle White was standing on this very table as captain, and I can't help but think that she had something to do with Flint flying into the goalpost and knocking himself out."

There were jeers and cheers at the memory of seeing the Slytherin captain fall flat on his arse. James threw his arm around Ursula's shoulder and shouted into her ear over the roar of the crowd, "Or maybe you winked at him!" He said before winking at her as she elbowed him in the ribs. He smiled wickedly, not letting anything get to him.

"I'm rubbish at making speeches, so I want to get the team up here. First I want the brilliant beaters, Liam McLaggen and Cormac Zimmerman!" The crowd cheers and shoved the two beaters forwards. They somehow already had drinks in their hands, toasting each other before taking a shot of what could only be firewhiskey. "These two brats," Sean said affectionately as he threw his arms around both of their shoulders, "are two of the bloody best on this team. All this season, not a single player on this team was hit by a bludger; let's not count that illegal hit by Slytherin earlier this season! That's a school record people! For that, their names are going to be etched in stone in the Beater Hall of Fame right next to the DADA rooms!" They crowd cheered loudly as the beaters took the papers, and gave a bow before going to sit in the chairs around the table their captain was standing on.

Sean scanned the room, his eyes falling on Elyse's bright red hair. He gestured to her to join him, "Get over here, Our Lucky Charm!" Elyse was grabbed by the crowd and literally lifted onto the table to stand next to Sean.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "This girl, this girl, I don't even have words to describe how amazingly wicked she is on the pitch! You have all seen it, not a single snitch missed the entire season!" the House cheered while Elyse turned a brilliant red. "For never having heard of Quidditch before coming to Hogwarts and this being her first year on the team, I'm sure you're all just impressed as I am! So I have a little something for you, O'Brian." He fished into his pocket before pulling out a golden snitch, "This is the one you caught to win us the House Cup! Normally, this goes to the captain no matter what position he or she plays, but I think you deserve it more than I do!"

Elyse grabbed the snitch, its wings fluttering out the second she touched it. It flew out of her hand and hovered around her for the next few seconds before zooming out over the crowd.

Sean continued, "Now can I get a Black and McGonagall up here?"

James practically shoved Ursula to the ground, smirking the entire time when she turned to glare at him. Before she could say anything, she was hauled to the front and forced up on the table to stand next to her captain. He turned to Moira first and shook her shoulder, "Who would have thought that this tiny little thing could be such a beast on the pitch? Must be genetic," he joked. Moira laughed, imagining her aunt's reaction to that. "Moira has made an outstanding showing this year! Unwavering dedication to this team is probably the thing I think is most impressive about her. Hell, she continued the tradition of having someone's skull get cracked open in at least one game! So for Moira, here's a helmet," he motioned to Cormac and Liam and they passed up a Gryffindor colored helmet.

Moira laughed and put on the helmet before getting off the table. Sean then turned to the other person still standing on the table.

"Now I never thought that I would be saying about a Black on our team but I have to say, she's probably one of the best bloody chasers on our team. Honestly, the only person I can compare her to is Annabelle. I don't have much to say because I think this says it all. This is her gear, she gave it to me last summer and told me to make good use of it. She told me to give it to you whenever the hell I wanted to but the time never seemed right. With…well with what's happened recently, I can't think of any better time." He held out the case that was bigger on the inside and held all of Annabelle's old chaser gear.

Ursula reverently held it in her hands, her fingers shaking slightly when she opened the latch to look at the still pristine arm and shin guards. Her eyes watered a little when she was the AW etched on the inside of them. Not knowing how to verbalize her thanks, she hugged Sean in a hug, hoping that he understood how much this meant to her. Based on the tears in his own eyes, he knew.

Out of the corner of her eyes, movement of the boys' staircase caught her attention. She looked, seeing a flash of red hair disappear around the corner, her heart sinking when she remembered Ben. Not wanting this moment to be ruined, she shook it off, and gracefully stepped down from the table, going to stand with her brother and Remus.

"Ben just left," Remus muttered to her while crowd roared as James was called up.

"I know," Ursula said indifferently, not realizing that she reached up to play around with her necklace.

Sean cleared his throat, "Bloody hell, I've been doing a lot of talking! But I have to say something about this brilliant bastard. Not only did he score the most goals today, he beat his personal record," Sean waited for the cheers to settle down, "and the House record; no wizards and witches, you just witness school history as Potter just broke the SCHOOL RECORD!" Sean practically screamed the last part of the announcement over the roar of the crowd.

The smile on James's face was so wide, that if it was any wider, his face would split in half. His eyes were dancing behind his glasses, pride and a bit of arrogance flashing in them but mainly, just accomplishment. He ran his hand through his hair, a signature James move, messing it up more than it already was after flying for three hours.

Once the clapping and cheering settled down, Wood continued, "It is because of this, as well as several other factors, that I am giving James this." He took off his captain's badge and put it on James's uniform. "Gryffindor, say hello to next year's Quidditch Captain!" With that he jumped off the table, leaving James alone.

James bowed to the crowd three times, each time causing the cheers to get louder and louder. Another chant of speech spread throughout the room. James smirked and nodded, "Alright! Alright!" the crowd quieted and waited for him to say something.

He scanned the crowd before his eyes honed in on something, more specifically someone. He smirked and shouted, "Oi, Evans! What do you say—"

"WHEN PIGS FLY, POTTER!"

He just smirked even more, "We've all seen Snivellus on a broomstick, Evans," he said condescendingly.

Lily glared at him so fiercely even the people in the crowd stopped laughing and his smirk fell a little bit, "Correction; we've all seen _you_ on a broom, Potter." She shot back.

"And aren't I just bloody brilliant! We'll continue this conversation in private," he wiggled his eyebrows at her before turning to address the entire crowd, "As my first official act as captain, I say LET'S PARTY!"

With that, he jumped off the table and the party truly began and didn't end until five in the morning when McGonagall came to break it up.

* * *

After their win over Slytherin, the school year flew by. With only a few days left in the term, Ursula and Elyse were helping the boys pack their trunks, knowing they were all complete slobs and they needed to get their compartment again on the train. Elyse was currently trying to help Sirius clean out from under his bed while Ursula helped Remus stack books in his trunk.

"Merlin, Remus, with your nose stuck in all those books, you'll never get a girl," Sirius commented after coming up for some air. Elyse glared at him and he groaned but returned under the bed to get more of the trash he had stashed there all year.

James nodded, "Padfoot's got a point, you need to get a girl."

"Says the single guy," Ursula teased.

"Says the single girl," James shot back, not even thinking before speaking like usual. Ursula flinched slightly but thankfully Remus saved the awkward questions that were sure to follow.

"I can't have a girlfriend with my, um, my _condition_." Remus tried to explain while folding his shirts.

Ursula snorted, "That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard."

"I think it's lame too," Peter quickly agreed with Ursula. She missed the nervous yet adoring look he had on his face when he said that.

"Any girl would be lucky to have you. Not as lucky to have me, but lucky none the less," James said.

Remus shook his head, "It doesn't work like that. People aren't exactly accepting of my 'furry little problem' as you guys put it."

"Aww, Moony yer bein' too hard'n yerself! There're plenty o' girl who'd date yeh," Elyse assured.

Ursula nodded, "I would date you and I'm from one of the most conservative, close minded families out there."

Remus rolled his eyes, "You're not exactly the normal standard for girls, Ursula."

After thinking about his point for a second, she had to concede.

"What about you Lucky? Would you take a chance with the 'madness within'?" Sirius taunted, grinning wickedly.

Elyse smacked his shoulder, "If I didn't've me boyfriend, I'd date Remus."

James clapped his hands together, "Look at that Moony! Two girls who would both date you; you can't deny that."

"Elyse can't exactly count because she knows everything! Plus both of them are my friends; you learned about my condition after being friends for a year. You say would date a werewolf now, but none of you know the truth of what that really means. You don't know what it's like; the monster I become. I could destroy every single one of you with a single bite. Who would want to date that?"

"Ursula still would," Elyse muttered.

All the boys looked at all the two girls confused. Ursula and Elyse seemed to be having a silent conversation before it appeared that Ursula lost when she sighed and stood up.

"I guess you let the dog out of the kennel, Lucky." Ursula said.

"What—"

Peter didn't get to finish his question when Ursula morphed into her animagus form. The four boys stared in shock, not believing what they just saw. Then Sirius doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach as tears streamed from his eyes from laughing so hard, "You're—you're a PUREBLOODED dog!" He fell into another fit of laughter.

Ursula growled and jumped at Sirius, knocking him off the bed with her superior strength. His laughing immediately ceased. "You bitch," he sneered before beginning to laugh again. "Geddit Prongs? She _is_ a bitch; a female dog!"

Despite being sore at not being the first to change James started chuckling, unable to not appreciate the humor of the situation. Ursula growled at him and moved to jump him but he was saved by the door opening. Seeing Ben standing the doorway, Ursula quickly dove under Remus's bed before Ben could see her.

The room went silent as Ben walked in. He saw all of them there and noticed the missing person, "Where's Ursula? She's usually around you lot." He asked with a touch of sarcasm.

Before Sirius could snap at Ben, James jumped in, "She jumped out the window."

Ben raised his eyebrows, "She jumped out the window? You do realize we live in a tower, a very _high_ tower." He said as if he was talking to an idiotic first year,

James just nodded innocently, pushing his glasses up his nose when they slipped down, "Yup. She grew wings and flew out to the Forbidden Forest to try to befriend the friendly herd of centaurs. She's made some progress the last few weeks but you wouldn't know that since you are a complete bastard." The joking tone of James's voice disappeared and his jovial expression went with it. Left in its place was a deadly serious expression that was mirrored on the other Marauder's faces.

None of them told her, but they all knew of her relationship with Ben. James and Sirius knew because Ursula told them, Elyse knew from her visions, Remus knew because Ben told him, while Peter found out from them after the fact.

"Now you listen, White. We know what you did and what you said to her and know this, if you ever, _ever_ even _breathe_ near her and upset her, you will wish you had never been born. Do you understand me?" Sirius said coldly, leaving no room to doubt his threat.

Ben snorted and tried to look confident, "Really? So what about this always trusting your friends, James? Always believing in them and never betraying them?" he taunted.

James shook his head, "You're no friend of mine. Not anymore."

"Fine." With that, Ben turned around and left the dorm, not sparing anyone another word. Ursula crawled out from under the bed and changed back into her human form. She sluggishly walked over to her brothers bed and started helping him pack his trunk. Sirius placed his hand over hers, stopping her from packing, "Are you alright?" He asked softly, as to not draw the attention of the others.

She forced a fake smile on her face she knew he saw straight through, "Why wouldn't I be?"

He sighed but didn't say anything more about it. She went back to packing his trunk. After about fifteen minutes, he noticed that she was packing it a bit oddly. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Packing it so you don't have to unpack this summer in case we need to leave in a hurry," She admitted softly.

The plan had been set a few weeks ago between her, Sirius, and James where if it came to a point where they were no longer safe in their home, they would run away to the Potter's. In past years, the threat was there but with their parents supporting the opposite side of the war and their cousins being known Death Eaters, the twins both knew in their hearts that this would be the last summer at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

If Sirius had it his way, they would be leaving with the Potters from King's Cross. Ursula on the other hand wanted to go back, arguing that this would be their last chance to try to get Regulus out. She couldn't just leave him on a silver platter for Voldemort and the rest of her deranged family. Sirius wasn't happy; he viewed Regulus as a lost cause. But Ursula convinced him to give her one month. One month to try to essentially save her brother's life. That would be it.

In case of an emergency, however, James was put on alert that at any point during the summer one of the Black twins might come tumbling through the floor if their lives were threatened. In that case he was instructed to prevent whichever twin got through first to go back. Knock them out, stun them, petrify them, whatever it took. Then he would try the mirror. If that didn't work, he would get his father and he would floo to the Black family home and save the remaining twin.

"Good idea," Sirius commented before getting back to organizing his possessions.

* * *

At long last they were getting on the train to go back home. The train ride home was fun; full of games, prank ideas, making jokes about Snivellus, and teasing Remus about the Ravenclaw girl from Christmas he was talking to before the train left the station. But there was undeniably an elephant in the compartment, more specifically a white elephant. For the first time ever, their compartment numbered only six, seeing as Ben opted not to sit with them.

When they finally pulled into the station, the Black twins stood together as they watched all of the families reunite, some tearfully over the loss of relatives in the last term. For the Blacks, their mother and father stood by the edge of the crowd, severe looks on both of their faces. Regulus stood by them, not even looking as his older siblings walked towards them.

Swallowing nervously, Ursula tried to keep a brave face as she approached what felt like her death sentence. Her mother's harsh, cruel, and hateful stare chilled her to the core. Sirius must have noticed her discomfort and tightly grasped her hand, "Don't show them any fear," he whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she shot back quickly and just as quietly.

The second they were in arms' length of their mother, before they were even able to turn around to wave goodbye to James, they were apparated out of the station and to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. It was only the first day of break and they were already in hell.

A familiar crackling laugh was there to greet them, "Why isn't it my favorite little cousins, Sirius and Sulie." Bellatrix crooned. She got right up in Ursula's face, looking into her eyes as if she was examining her soul. "Oh, it's going to be a treat breaking you," She hissed. "I think out first lesson will be in pain, don't you think Auntie Walburga? I believe you are familiar with this little treat, _Sulie_," Bellatrix taunted, jabbing her wand into Ursula's stomach, a familiar, white hot pain spreading through her entire body.

She heard Sirius's shouts mix with someone else's scream of pain and terror. Just before she lost consciousness, she realized it was her screaming. With that final realization, everything went black.

And so it begins.

* * *

_Well, that's it. Fourth year is officially over. I would really appreciate if you reviewed but I would understand if you didn't. It would just mean a lot and possibly get the next chapter written fast because the I'm on Christmas Break with all the time in the world. ;) _

_So if you would kindly leave a review about what you thought about this chapter or this year or heck, even this entire series as a whole because I would love to hear what you have to say. _


	16. Sequel Update

This is just a little announcement to let you all know that the first chapter of the next Book has been published. There will be one change in this Series, however. From now on, all the books will be under** marauder/oc **for character listing.

I made that change because while the earlier years fit with Sirius being the main character with his sister, the original character. But now that the other original characters are equally part of the story and especially now they are older and there is romance and all that jazz, it just fits better there. Sorry if that is an inconvenience to anyone.

For anyone interested, when you go to my profile, feel free to read any of the one-shots I have written that fit in with the story. There is one new one that I published just recently. There is a disclaimer on it that you had to at least read chapter twelve of this story to understand what happened.

Until next time.

Happy Reading!

~Rae


End file.
